site.btaAlmost 2,000 Syrians Leave Turkiye in a Week

A total of 1,874 Syrians have left Turkiye since December 8 to return to their home country, Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said during a parliamentary discussion on budget matters in Ankara.

Over the period between January and November 2024, the number of returnees was 121,695. They left Turkiye of their own accord to go back mainly to the Syrian cities of Aleppo, Hama, Raqqa, Homs and Latakia.

At present, there are 2,938,261 Syrians in Turkiye, including those who were born here, Yerlikaya said.

Turkish media report large numbers of outbound Syrians at Turkish border crossings. There are six crossings on the 910 km border between the two countries.

No official announcement has been made about whether the "guest" status introduced for Syrian refugees in Turkiye 13 years ago still applies.

The return of Syrian refugees from Turkiye is voluntary, the Milliyet daily said. During identity and liability checks at the border, Syrian citizens are asked to sign a declaration that they are going home of their own free will.

The newspaper commented: "The demise of the Ba'ath regime in Syria, which lasted 61 years, and the end of the civil war have raised the question of whether it is necessary to maintain the temporary protection status granted by the Turkish state when Syrian refugees were received 13 years ago. If lasting peace has really been established in Syria and the people who had left the country are free to return, this may be good reason to abolish the temporary protection status."

Meanwhile, Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler denied allegations that the airplane of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad used Turkish airspace. Meeting with representatives of media organizations in Ankara, Guler said that reports about Assad using Turkish airspace during his escape from Syria do not correspond to the truth, the Demiroren News Agency reported.