President Erdogan says Turkey’s doors are ‘open’ to refugees from Lebanon

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for talks on Saturday at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul.

The two leaders discussed the escalating conflict in the Middle East and defence industry cooperation, including a potential deal to supply Turkey with Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.

Both countries are members of NATO.

Stating that Turkey is making significant efforts regarding migration and refugees, Scholz said: “We will support Turkey regarding the consequences of the war in Syria. We desire progress between Turkey and the EU.”

Turkey took in millions of refugees who fled the civil war in neighbouring Syria since it began in 2011. By 2023 there were 3.2 million Syrian refugees registered in Turkey and many that weren’t registered. But Erdogan’s government has deported more than 50,000 of them back to Syria recently after their presence created domestic tensions and impacted the economy. And over 600,000 have returned to Syria “voluntarily” according to the government.

But despite the challenge that Syrian refugees pose, Erdogan said that Turkey remained open to receiving refugees from Lebanon following Israel’s weeks-long air and ground offensive there.

“We have kept our doors open to those who come to our country from Lebanon during such a war period,” he said.