Turkey has said it will send a million Syrian refugees back to their war-ravaged homeland, as their presence emerges as a political issue in the upcoming national elections.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to return the Syrians as the economic cost of hosting the world’s largest refugee population threatens his popularity.

Around six million refugees are currently living in Turkey.

“We are now preparing a new project that will enable the voluntary return of one million Syrian brothers and sisters” to areas secured by Turkish and allied forces in northern Syria, Erdogan said in a video message.

The plan to return almost a quarter of Turkey’s almost 3.7 million registered Syrian refugees comes as opposition parties attack the government’s immigration policy ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in June, 2023. 

The Turkish government has not said how it will persuade Syrians to volunteer to return to the areas, which include Azaz, Jarablus, Al-Bab, Tal Abyad and Ras Al-Ayn.

But the initiative is likely to win support among voters who are increasingly uneasy about overcrowded classrooms and longer waits at hospitals, where refugees receive free medical treatment.

Syrians fleeing the war next door make up the biggest share of Turkey’s refugee population of around six million, alongside others from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The government has spent about billions of dollars on housing, medical care and schooling for Syrians who began arriving weeks after the war began in 2011.

Erdogan had until recently avoided criticism over the hosting of Syrians as his loyal base is largely rural and conservative and agrees that the country has a moral and religious duty to take in those fleeing war.

But sentiments are changing as inflation erodes living standards, giving right-wing politicians an opening.

Nationalist leader Umit Ozdag, who will oppose Erdogan in the presidential elections, has vowed to send millions of refugees home.

The leader of the rightist Zafer Party dismissed Erdogan’s plans as an election tactic.

Syrians in Turkey are generally concentrated in the border provinces and major cities. Less than 2.4 per cent live in refugee camps.

Istanbul, the most populous city in Turkey, hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees, with approximately 495,000 registered people.

Refugee activists say that in recent months, there has been alarming trend of violence against refugees.