Whenever Turkey’s economy staggers and the public’s financial woes increase, the assistance extended to Syrian refugees becomes an issue for the cash-tight government. Ankara has had to tap the central bank’s legal reserves, a sum normally set aside for extraordinary circumstances such as war, and has spent more than $40 billion on 3.6 million Syrians since 2011.

The stimulus package that Ankara announced last month to help small and medium-sized enterprises and low-income citizens against the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic is worth only 100 billion Turkish liras, or about $15 billion, less than half of its spending on the refugees.

“Is the state now incapable of looking after its own people?” asked Faik Oztrak, deputy chair and spokesman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), stressing that the spending on Syrians represented taxpayers’ money. Speaking to Al-Monitor, Oztrak said heedless spending was not limited to the refugees, noting that billions of liras flowed into the pockets of a handful of contractors as part of “client guarantees” in infrastructure projects such as motorways, bridges and airports, which the pandemic has rendered largely unused at present.

Social distancing measures have forced many to “choose between health and work,” Oztrak said, adding, “If you want people to stay home, you have to offer them a minimum income for their livelihoods.”