Minister of Interior: 'We Do Not Extradite Foreigners Who Have a Residence Permit'

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Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu has said that Syrians who are under temporary protection status and foreigners who have a residence permit will not be extradited in a press conference he held at the Maraş Temporary Sheltering Center.

Ninety percent of the people who have been taken action on in the last 15 days are citizens of Syria, Soylu said.

"Those who live in İstanbul and are registered in other cities have been given certain time. For this reason, actions are not being taken on them right now," the minister added.

The ministry has recently tightened measures against refugees, rounding up thousands of "illegal migrants" and setting a deadline for Syrians who are registered for temporary protection in different cities to leave İstanbul, which prompted a reaction from refugee advocates.

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Saying that the recent moves are all about "irregular and illegal migration," Soylu said, "Extradition of any Syrian who is under temporary protection, a foreigner who is in our country under international protection or a person who is in our country with a residence permit is out of the question."

"We neither have the capability nor the right to do that. We have neither the will nor such action," he added.

The minister further said, "Antalya and İstanbul have been closed to registration proceedings since 2016. We don't accept registrations in these provinces. For this reason, when we find unregistered Syrians, we bring them to a camp and register them.

"Then we ask them what city they want to go and send them there. Such a simple proceeding."

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Soylu warned that there are people who want to bring the "extreme xenophobia" from Europe to Turkey.

Saying that two thousand migrants are rounded up every day in the country, Soylu remarked, "Every foreigner we see on the streets are not Syrians. There are teachers, doctors, businessmen, engineers, servants..." (RT/VK)

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