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Ankara pressed to explain $30 billion refugee bill

Turkey’s opposition is piling up pressure on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government to provide a transparent account of the $30 billion that Ankara says it has been spent on Syrian refugees.
A Syrian refugee woman walks between tents in Nizip refugee camp, near the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep province, Turkey, November 30, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas - RC1B34636AE0

ANKARA — Seemingly contradictory statements by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and government ministers on how much money Turkey has spent on Syrian refugees are raising further question marks on an already controversial issue in the country. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, has turned up the pressure on Erdogan to explain in detail the $30 billion that the president says the Syrian refugees have cost Ankara.

Addressing Erdogan in a speech in parliament Nov. 28, Kilicdaroglu said, “Wherever you went, you said you had spent $30 billion for the Syrians. Easier said than done. We look at the Syrians and most of them are beggars or poor fellows. Some have even died from hunger. Even at the United Nations General Assembly, you spoke of spending $30 billion. I am asking you to explain [the figure].… When, where and for whom did you spend that $30 billion?”

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