Iraqi Turkmen: Refugee Speaks of Neglect from Turkish Government
Following the invasion of Iraq by the Islamic State in June 2014, Iraqi refugees have joined the many Syrian refugees fleeing over the border to Turkey in order to seek refuge. An interview with an Iraqi refugee in Turkey sheds light on the perceived discrimination that the Turkish government is showing towards Iraqis while providing more help for Syrian refugees within its borders.
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Below is an article published by BGN News
Since arriving in Turkey, the [Iraqi Turkmen] feel neglected compared to the refugees who fled from Syria. They lack money and supplies. 36-year-old Ali Yusuf Yahya is finding it hard to even take his son Ahap Ali to the hospital to receive treatment for the wounds he received due to the dire financial circumstances the family is enduring.
“Pieces from a bomb blasted by ISIL hit my son and still remain in his body”, notes Yahya commenting on the fact that Syrians find it relatively easy to receive treatment in Turkish hospitals; “I thought that Turkish brothers can help us, but we realized that they [the Turkish government] only care for Syrian refugees.”
Stating that he pays TL 200 for rent of his house, Yahya lamented by saying “in lack of a work permit, no one hires me.” His son Ahap Ali, bearing witness to his father’s struggles asks “Would [Turkey] help us if we were Syrians?”
On [14 January 2015] the former Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş had promised that health care services provided to Syrian refugees will also be extended to other ethnic groups which came from Iraq. One year on, and not an inch of progress in the situation surrounding Turkey’s Iraqi [Turkmen].
