A Syrian is running for the Turkish elections, and an opposition party leader threatens him with deportation!

A Syrian is running for the Turkish elections, and an opposition party leader threatens him with deportation

The Syrian Muhammad Fansa announced his desire to run for the upcoming Turkish parliamentary elections in the ranks of the Justice and Development Party for the state of Mersin in the south of the country, which prompted one of the leaders of the opposition parties to threaten him with deportation.
“Fanssa,” who holds Turkish citizenship, said in a tweet on Twitter that he had run as a parliamentary candidate for the Justice and Development Party for Mersin.

He added, “My dear friends, God willing, I will run tomorrow as a candidate for the position of deputy for the Justice and Development Party in Mersin. I am waiting for your support. I pray to God not to embarrass us.”

Fansa’s announcement of his candidacy for parliament prompted the head of the Turkish opposition Zafar Party, Umit Ozdag, to republish the tweet, threatening him with deportation, according to the Yeni Chaga newspaper.
The racist Ozdag wrote on Twitter: “Don’t bother and run, we will send you too to Syria.“

While many Turks reported on social media the news, criticizing Ozdag’s racism, and pointing out that Fansa is of Turkmen origin.

Political polarization
It is noteworthy that the participation of naturalized Syrians in Turkish political life is very limited due to a group of factors, foremost of which is the volatile political space and racism against Syrians and those of Arab origin by some Turks, in addition to the severe political polarization that the country is experiencing.
For years, the extremist Ozdag has been deliberately distorting the image of the Syrians and making accusations against them, claiming that their presence would change the demographic composition of the country, while his party had previously published a short film depicting the Syrians as occupiers trying to control Turkey.