Erdogan’s opponent wants to “send all refugees home” Ex-star entrepreneur Holmes must now go to prison

The Turkish presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has taken a much sharper tone towards refugees more than ten days before the second round for the presidency. “As soon as I come to power, I will send all refugees home. Period,” Kilicdaroglu said on Thursday, speaking of ten million people in the country. It was not immediately clear on which data he relied. According to the United Nations, there are 3.9 million refugees living in Turkey. Most are from Syria.

During the election campaign, Kilicdaroglu had previously spoken of wanting to return Syrian refugees to Syria on a voluntary basis and within two years.

Kilicdaroglu finished last Sunday’s presidential election behind incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who narrowly missed out on winning the first round. With neither candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote, Kilicdaroglu and Erdogan will face each other in a second round on May 28. Against the background of allegations of manipulation in Sunday’s elections, Kilicdaroglu stated that he wanted to send at least one million election observers to the polls.

Observers assume that the votes from the nationalist camp in particular will be decisive in the elections. Third-placed right-wing candidate Sinan Ogan received a good five percent in the first round. He links an election recommendation for Erdogan or Kilicdaroglu to commitments. He stands for anti-refugee policies and calls for an intensified “fight against terror”.

It is doubtful whether his voters will follow his recommendations. Election researcher Özer Sencar told the DPA he assumed the majority of them would transfer to the Erdogan camp anyway. (aeg/sda/dpa)