Turkey’s bid to reconcile with the Syrian government has left many Syrian refugees in the country on tenterhooks as Ankara faces pressure to cut a deal with Damascus on the return of the Syrians amid rising anti-refugee sentiment in a critical election year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled readiness to meet with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last week after the two countries’ defense ministers met in Moscow as part of trilateral talks involving their Russian counterpart. The refugee issue was high on the agenda of the landmark meeting, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry.

Many Syrians in Turkey appear unwilling to return as long as Assad remains in power, fearing persecution. Others dread the prospect of uprooting themselves again after more than a decade of struggle to build new lives in Turkey. 

Foziya Al Darid, a researcher who recently completed her master’s degree at Artuklu University in Mardin, southeastern Turkey, cannot even imagine returning to Syria. She has worked hard to settle her two children in Turkey and she now plans to begin her PhD next year. “It took us a long time to get over our past lives and our memories in Syria, to be able to move on and continue our new life,” she told Al-Monitor.