Minister: Over 460,000 Syrians left Turkey since 2019

By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has said that 462,000 Syrians voluntarily returned to their homes since 2019 following the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations, Yeni Shafak newspaper reported on September 15.

Soylu made the remarks addressing the Migration Board Meeting held in Ankara.

“There are still 3,710,532 people having the temporary protection status in our country. The number of people staying in our country with a residence permit is 1,207,749 and they have been registered,” Soylu said.

Speaking about Turkey's decisive steps in the migration policy sphere, Soylu noted that the country has a clear migration policy, strategic documents and state institutions.

In Soyu’s words, from the very first day, Turkey has been determined and aware of how to deal with the migration problem.

“In 2018, the International Protection Decision Center was established, mobile teams were formed and the following year the Irregular Migration Joint Database was established. A database has been established among all our institutions - the Migration, Gendarmerie, Police and the Coast Guard to catch irregular migration,” he added.

Soylu recalled that 837 of 911km of the Turkish-Syrian border had been equipped with the border walls, lighting, electro-optical systems, as well as sensors and night vision cameras. Efforts have been made to secure the protection against migration waves on Turkey's borders with Georgia and Armenia in Ardahan, he added.

Soylu said that the security of state borders has also been maintained in Aghri, Van and Hakkari regions, where the border structures were weak before.

Commenting on the healthcare services provided to migrants, he underlined that every Syrian immigrant who stepped into Turkey has been vaccinated and all data have been processed one by one.

The minister stressed that Turkey has shown strong will in dealing with the irregular migration problem since 2011 when the country faced the first huge migration flow.

“We did not encounter any critical incidents in terms of internal security or public order. Whoever does not comply with our rules, our laws must work smoothly for them, we need to send them back, and we will carefully follow our steps in this regard in order to ensure public order in Turkey,” he concluded.