Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged on Monday that his country would not expel Syrian refugees on its soil, after continuous pressure from activists and opposition parties to return millions of Syrian refugees from Turkey to their country.

Erdogan said during an event marking the 32nd anniversary of the establishment of the Association of Turkish Businessmen and Independent Industrialists (MUSIAD), we are the sons of a culture that is well aware of the meaning of immigrants and supporters, and Syrian refugees can return to their country whenever they want, but we will never expel them from our country.

"We will protect to the end our brothers who were expelled from Syria because of the war... We will never expel them from this land," he added, denouncing the statements of opposition leaders who regularly demand the return of Syrian refugees to Syria.

He continued, speaking about the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in front of a group of entrepreneurs, "Our door is wide open and we will continue to receive (Syrians), and we will not return them to the mouths of the killers."

Several Turkish opposition parties regularly call for the return of Syrian refugees from Turkey to Syria.

And last week, the Republican People's Party, the largest opposition party, confirmed that if it came to power in the legislative and presidential elections in June 2023, all Syrians would leave Turkey "within two years."

Erdogan announced last week that he was preparing for the "return of a million" Syrians to their country on a voluntary basis, by financing the creation of shelters and suitable structures to receive Syrians in northwestern Syria, with international assistance.

Since 2016, about 500,000 Syrians have returned to the "safe areas" established by Ankara along its border with Syria, according to Erdogan.

The first grouped houses and the necessary infrastructure to receive the returning Syrian refugees were inaugurated on the 3rd of May in the Kamouna camp in the Sarmada region, a project funded by Ankara.

In front of a cheering crowd waving Turkish flags, Erdogan promised that his country would continue to help the Syrians, adding that at least 100,000 homes would be ready by the end of the year in northwestern Syria.

Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region

On the other hand, Turkey announced today, Monday, that it will participate in the sixth edition of the Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said, in a statement, that it will participate in the conference to be held on Monday and Tuesday, with a delegation headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Unal.

The conference will start in Brussels with the participation of representatives from governments, international and regional organizations, and civil society organizations, while the Syrian regime was not invited to the conference, and Russia, which had previously participated in the previous years in the conference organized in cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations, was not invited.

At the Fifth Conference last year, international donors pledged $6.4 billion to help Syrians inside the country and in neighboring countries.

The amount is allocated to provide shelter, food, health care, education and other necessary assistance to the displaced and Syrian refugees.

Since 2011, Syria has been witnessing a war that began after the regime of Bashar al-Assad dealt forcefully with an anti-popular revolution that began on March 15 of the same year, which prompted millions of people to flee or seek refuge in neighboring countries.