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Turkey braces for surge of Syrian refugees heading home

Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Dec 10, 2024
The fall of Bashar al-Assad has raised the prospect of a return from Turkey for thousands of Syrian refugees
The fall of Bashar al-Assad has raised the prospect of a return from Turkey for thousands of Syrian refugees — Ozan KOSE

Turkey has expanded its border crossing capacities to accommodate the surge in Syrian refugees seeking to return home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the interior minister has said.

Following Assad's ouster on Sunday, hundreds flocked to Turkey's southern border with Syria, with Ankara quickly moving to expand its crossing facilities, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told reporters in remarks published on Tuesday.

"Although we had a daily capacity to accommodate 3,000 crossings, we have increased that to between 15,000 and 20,000," Yerlikaya said.

Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled after the start of the civil war in 2011, with Ankara hoping the tectonic shift in neighbouring Syria will allow many to return home.

Yerlikaya said "300-400" people crossed the frontier on Sunday but by midday on Monday, that number had "doubled".

"We will have a meeting with Syrian NGOs on Wednesday afternoon" about the refugees' return, he said, without specifying which groups would be involved.

Yerlikaya said that since 2016, "more than 738,000 Syrians" had voluntarily returned home, with a total of 2,935,000 still left in Turkey.

- Closed crossing to reopen -

Turkey shares a 900-kilometre (560-mile) border with Syria with five operational crossings.

On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to reopen a sixth crossing on the western end of the frontier that has been closed since 2013 to "ease the traffic".

The Yayladagi crossing in Hatay province lies at Turkey's southernmost point, giving entry to the western Syrian coastal region of Latakia.

"The strong wind of change in Syria will be beneficial for all Syrians, especially the refugees. As Syria gains stability, voluntary returns will increase and their 13-year longing for their homeland will come to an end," Erdogan said.

With anti-Syrian sentiment running high within Turkish society, Ankara is keen to see as many refugees as possible return to their homeland.

Yerlikaya said 1.24 million -- some 42 percent -- of the Syrian refugees in Turkey hailed from the Aleppo region, whose eponymous regional capital was the first to fall into rebel hands on December 1.

- 'No-one would have believed it' -

Early on Monday, AFP correspondents saw hundreds of refugees massing at the Cilvegozu border crossing which lies 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Aleppo, Syria's second city.

Many Syrian refugees have made their way to Turkey's southern border to finally go back home

"If you told them three days ago this was going to happen, no-one would have believed it," Yerlikaya said.

"There has been a great tragedy in Syria and now it is time for them to rejoice. We will be making huge efforts to get them back home."

On Tuesday, Erdogan held a string of separate phone conversations about Syria with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen, NATO boss Mark Rutte and Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, his office said.

Speaking with von der Leyen, he said that efforts to ensure "the safe and voluntary return of Syrians to their country was being planned" and telling her "the reconstruction of Syria will speed up the Syrians' return".