ANKARA, July 2 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday emphasized that the Syrian refugee issue in the country cannot be resolved through "prejudices and fears," amidst outbreaks of violence targeting Syrian refugees across Türkiye.
"We will resolve the refugee issue within a rational and conscientious framework, not based on prejudices and fears, but on the realities of our country and economy," Erdogan said at a press conference after a cabinet meeting.
The anti-Syrian riots first started on Sunday in Kayseri province after Turkish authorities arrested a Syrian man for allegedly sexually abusing a seven-year-old Syrian girl. Local residents set fire to houses and businesses belonging to Syrians and vandalized their vehicles.
The violence then spread to the provinces of Hatay, Kilis, Gaziantep, Konya, and Antalya while the Turkish government has been urging for calm.
The riots against Syrians in Türkiye also sparked a backlash in northern Syria.
Footages of a group of people desecrating the Turkish flag and attacking trucks from Türkiye circulated across social media.
"We know who wrote the plot, which was created using the remnants of the separatist terrorist organization. Neither we, nor our nation, nor our Syrian brothers will fall into this insidious trap," Erdogan said.
"Just as we know how to break dirty hands that encroach on our flag, we also know how to break hands that reach for the oppressed who have sought refuge in our country," he added.
Since 2016, Türkiye has carried out four military operations in northern Syria, targeting Kurdish-controlled areas and the Islamic State militants. It currently controls swaths of land and has set up several small military bases in Syria's Idlib and other northern provinces.
"We set sights on no one's land, nor do we set sights on anyone's sovereignty. We only protect our homeland against separatist intentions and we will continue to do so," the president said.
A total of 670,000 Syrians have returned from Türkiye to the settlements in northern Syria, he said, adding, "When the projects are completed, an additional 1 million people will be added."
There are some 3.1 million registered Syrian refugees residing in Turkish cities, according to official data. ■
