Naturalization Policies: Turkish Party Legally Challenges Syrian Naturalization
This development highlights the growing conflict between economic considerations and security and demographic concerns in Turkey, which may affect the future of refugees and foreign investors
October 5, 2024, 11:46 pm

Naturalization Policies: Turkish Party Legally Challenges Syrian Naturalization

The leader of the nationalist "Good Party" in Turkey, Meral Akşener, announced that her party has initiated legal proceedings at the Supreme Administrative Court to invalidate Turkish citizenship granted to Syrian refugees and foreign investors.

Akşener stated in a press conference in front of the Supreme Administrative Court in Ankara on Tuesday that "all citizenships granted by the President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) through exceptional mechanisms are unconstitutional and lack any legal basis."

She added, "All citizenships granted in exchange for foreign currencies and property purchases violate the law," indicating that these reasons motivated her party "to file a lawsuit to cancel all citizenships granted for money, to preserve the dignity and status of Turkish citizenship."

The opposition right-wing party leader considered that "the Turkish national identity and the Republic of Turkey face an existential threat," according to her expression.

During her speech, she emphasized that "all granted citizenships are null and void by law," directing a question to the Turkish Interior Minister: "Based on which law did you grant citizenship to 238,000 Syrian refugees?"

About 3 million Syrian refugees live in Turkey under temporary protection status "Kimlik," according to the latest statistics from the Turkish Interior Ministry, published in response to claims by opposition politicians and anti-refugee figures about the presence of more than twice the officially declared number.

Last August, the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of Turkey revealed that the number of Syrians who were under temporary protection and obtained Turkish citizenship reached 238,768, including 134,624 adults and 104,144 children.

From time to time, Syrians residing in Turkey under "temporary protection" are subjected to anti-presence campaigns that include various claims about their numbers and the services they receive in government institutions and universities, in addition to inflating the numbers of those who have obtained citizenship.

Earlier this year, the General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs of Turkey issued a statement to refute claims about granting citizenship to more than two million Syrians in Turkey, affirming that such claims "do not reflect reality, but aim to mislead public opinion."

The move by the "Good Party" raises questions about the circumstances and reasons that might lead Turkish authorities to revoke citizenship, and whether it is possible to cancel the decision to grant citizenship, whether exceptional or through investment, after obtaining it.

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