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Number of registered Syrian refugees by province (as of February 10, 2022)
Syrians in Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye'deki Suriyeliler; Arabic: السوريون في تركيا, romanized: al-Sūriyyūn fī Turkiyā), includes Turkish citizens of Syrian origin, Syrian refugees, and other Syrian citizens resident in Turkey. As of December 2024, about 3 million registered refugees of the Syrian Civil War reside in Turkey, which hosts one of the biggest refugee populations in the whole world.[4][5] In addition, more than 73,000 Syrian nationals reside in Turkey with a residence permit.[6] Apart from Syrian refugees under temporary protection and Syrian citizens with a residence permit; 238,768 Syrian nationals acquired Turkish citizenship as of August 2024.[7]
Syrians are generally concentrated in the border provinces and major cities in Turkey, and only 1.3% of them live in refugee camps.[8]Istanbul, the most populous city in Turkey, hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees, with more than 500,000 registered people.[9]
Disputed population size
Ümit Özdağ, chairman of Victory Party, alleged that number of Syrian population who gained Turkish citizenship is 1,476,368 as of July 2022.[10] He also claims number of Syrians in Turkey is about 5.3 million including unregistered ones.[11] In May 2023, during a visit to Victory Party headquarters, AKP deputy chairman Numan Kurtulmuş said that there are 4,994 million Syrians in Turkey.[12]
History
Syrians in Turkey include migrants from Syria to Turkey, as well as their descendants. The number of Syrians in Turkey is estimated at 4 million people as of August 2022,[13] and consists mainly of refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
In 2017, Syrian citizens accounted for 24% of all work permits granted to foreign nationals, making Syrians the largest single group of foreign nationals with work permits.[14]
Following the Turkish military intervention in the Afrin District in Northern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, some Turkish politicians have suggested that Syrian refugees in Turkey should be repatriated to Syria.[15]
According to news releases in 2019; there are 405,521 Syrians born in Turkey since 2011, 79,820 Syrians who got Turkish citizenship, approximately 329,000 Syrians who returned to Syria, 31,185 Syrians who have working permits, and 15,159 companies which have at least one Syrian company member.[16]
As of May 2023; 554,609 Syrian refugees have returned to Syria.[17] In December 2024 President Erdoğan announced he will open a third border crossing enabling more Syrian refugees to return to Syria, following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad's regime.[18]
Discrimination and violence
Refugee "safe zones"
In 2022 Turkey were criticized by Human Rights Watch for pressuring Syrians living in Turkey to move to Tell Abyad, a Turkish-occupied district of northern Syria.[19][20][21]
2024 violence
In 2024 there were multiple incidents to mob violence against Syrian refugees in Turkey.[22]
Syrians living in Turkey are formed of various ethnic and religious groups. The majority are Arabs (including Palestinians) while Syrian Kurds and Syrian Turkmen make up the significant minorities.[23] It is estimated by the UNHCR that more than 80% of the Syrian population in Turkey are ethnic Arabs, while 10-15% of them are ethnic Kurds and 10-15% of them are ethnic Turks (Syrian Turkmen). The same report indicates that 81%, 16.1% and 13.3% state their native languages as Arabic, Kurdish and Turkish, respectively. (More than one option was available.)[24]
By December 2016 the Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ümit Yalçın stated that Turkey opened its borders to 500,000 Syrian Turkmen.[29]
In 2020 the Voice of America reported that 1,000,000 Syrian Turkmen (including descendants) who are living in Turkey are requesting to become Turkish citizens.[30]
Some Assyrians who have fled from ISIL have found temporary homes in the city of Midyat. A refugee center is located near Midyat, but due to there being a small Assyrian community in Midyat, many of the Assyrian refugees at the camp went to Midyat hoping for better conditions than what the refugee camp had. To their surprise,[clarification needed] many refugees were in fact given help and accommodations by the local Assyrian community there, perhaps wishing that the refugees stay, as the community in Midyat is in need of more members.[31]
As of 2021[update] there are 1.7 million Syrian refugee children in the country, and since 2017 the government has committed to integrating them into the national school system.[32]
Economics
As of 2019[update] the trade minister said there were almost 14,000 Syrian owned businesses, which was almost 30% of the total number of foreign owned businesses, with a capital of 4 billion Turkish liras ($480 million).[33] About 40% of businesses are estimated to be jointly owned with Turks or other nationals.[33]
