President Erdoğan's statement on 'Syrians': We are even prepared to pay a political price.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made statements at the Administrators Program held at the Presidential Complex.

ERDOĞAN TARGETED ÖZGÜR ÖZEL THROUGH SYRIAN REFUGEES

In part of his speech, Erdoğan, who targeted CHP Chairman Özgür Özel through the expression "Assad is gone, let the refugees go," said, "Our nation has shown great generosity in accordance with its noble character and supported Syrian migrants with a sense of being hosts. Together, we have signed a solidarity mobilization that will be written in golden letters in the history of humanity. In fact, I personally was even willing to pay a political price for this cause."

The relevant part of Erdoğan's statements is as follows:

"WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SYRIA CONCERNS US IN EVERY ASPECT"

"We are going through days when very important issues are taking place in our region. What is happening in Syria concerns us in every aspect. With the collapse of the 61-year Baath dictatorship, a new era has begun. Our teams on the ground express that the situation is much worse than anticipated. It is clear that Syria needs a certain amount of time to recover. It is evident that there should be more contributions from the international community."

"IT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF IGNORANCE"

It is also clear that Syria needs a certain amount of time alongside the support of the Arab and Islamic world to recover. It is important for the international community to contribute more to this process. As Turkey, we are also making all our plans around these realities. The statement of the Leader of the Main Opposition Party, 'Assad is gone, let the refugees go,' is an example of ignorance beyond insensitivity. A person who reads a bit of foreign policy, a bit of economics, and a bit of war history would be ashamed to make such a statement.

"WE EVEN RISKED PAYING A POLITICAL PRICE FOR THIS CAUSE"

I must emphasize the following point. Thank God, for 13 years, we have sheltered the Syrian victims fleeing the claws of war and oppression, opening our arms with compassion and mercy. The Main Opposition has always been eager to send them back to where they came from. We said we are hosts, and they are migrants. Therefore, we said that in our civilization, it is never necessary to expel migrants as hosts. Our nation has shown great generosity in accordance with its noble character and supported Syrian migrants with a sense of being hosts. Together, we have signed a solidarity mobilization that will be written in golden letters in the history of humanity. In fact, I personally was even willing to pay a political price for this cause. We all remember the racist politics of the candidate against us during the elections from May 14 to 28. Despite all this, we did not turn our backs on the victims who entrusted their lives, honor, and dignity to us. We said we would not let this noble nation, which is the voice of the voiceless, experience the shame of the Boraltan Bridge tragedy once again, and thank God, we did not. Just as we sincerely hosted our Syrian brothers for 13 years, we will act with the same sensitivity in the future."