Like many Syrians in Turkey, Ghaith Sameer is awaiting the result of Sunday's election runoff with trepidation, fearing a win for an opposition candidate who promises to swiftly repatriate migrants.
after falling just short of an outright first-round victory two weeks ago, his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, has embraced anti-migrant rhetoric to try to turn the race around.nationalist party and promised to repatriate all migrants within a year as posters bearing his face have sprouted across Turkish cities vowing that Syrians will leave.
Sameer, 38, said many of his friends and relatives were putting off plans until after the election when things would be clearer, with his brother even waiting to replace a broken food processor. Playing on xenophobic stereotypes that accuse Syrians and Afghan refugees of theft, sexual harassment and other crimes, Ozdag said repatriating migrants would "make the streets safe again".
Ahmad, who withheld his family name fearing repercussions, said he was worried how the signs would affect Syrian children who can read Turkish because they are educated in the language, and described it as "repulsive and disgusting hate speech".has been paused in Syria for years, with Turkey controlling enclaves across the border where it backs rebels against President Bashar al-Assad and which are already crowded with displaced people from other parts of Syria.
Saad Abdalkader, who has lived in Turkey since 2015, said he could envisage no stability in Syria while Assad held power and was considering travelling onwards to Europe in search of safety.
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