Turkey's Erdogan faces struggle to meet Syrian refugee promise

FILE PHOTO: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan holds up a photo of what he described as a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey as he addresses the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2022. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

ANKARA (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan played up his plans to repatriate a million Syrian refugees as he rode a wave of nationalism to his third decade in power, but he could struggle to make good on the promise as conflict lingers on in neighbouring Syria.

Erdogan, long seen as an ally by Syrian opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, emphasised refugee repatriation during bitter campaigning for Sunday's run-off against Kemal Kilicidaroglu, who took an even tougher stance on the issue.