The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which has been criticized for not conducting effective opposition to the government’s policies in Iraq and Syria, has released a new report that says the amount Turkey has paid for the two crises in four years has reached $16.56 billion.

A 72-page report titled "Syria and Iraqi crises: The Costs Turkey Pays" emphatically states that wrong policies played a major role in these costs, which include expenditures for Syrian refugees, potential export losses and declining tourism revenues.

The report was released by CHP World Business Group, an organization created by the opposition party for a fact-finding mission that would determine the situation of economy and prepare reports for the party platform. With the June election approaching, the CHP has adopted an aggressive work platform to break its stagnation. CHP World Business Group’s works in the field and its report are an impressive result of this since October 2014. The group is made up of 24 deputies in the parliament. Most of the members have business or academic backgrounds focused on economics.

According to the report prepared by CHP Business World Group — based on research in provinces of Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Mardin, Adana, Mersin and Hatay — some $5.5 billion has been spent from the public budget for the refugees, who total nearly 1.7 million according to official figures and more than 2 million according to unofficial counts.