TURKEY GRANTS RESIDENCE PERMIT TO 30,106 SYRIANS

Ankara, 20 Dul Qa’idah 1434/26 September 2013 (MINA) – Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler stated that 30,106 Syrian nationals were granted residence permits, and foreign national ID numbers by July 1, 2013, but this didn’t mean a grant of Turkish citizenship.

In response to a parliamentary question from Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) Ankara Deputy Ozcan Yeniceri, Guler said that the Turkish ID number was issued to Turkish citizens only, and foreigners granted at least 6 months’ residence were issued a separate ID number reserved for foreign nationals.

Guler said that Syrian nationals entering Turkey legally were granted temporary residence permits for up to 1 year upon application to the provincial security departments, except in Hatay and Sirnak. Guler stressed that the residence permit didn’t mean a grant of Turkish citizenship, Anadolu Agency reported as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

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Turkey has accommodated most of its Syrian refugees in tent cities in Hatay province, which have been constructed since summer 2011. The Turkish Government underestimated the length and scale of the war in Syria and until recently welcomed most refugees into relatively comfortable living spaces.

Compared to tents in the desert of Jordan (which are often blown away by sand storms) the standard of living in Turkish tents is high. Education and health services are usually provided by the Turkish government or Turkish NGOs. However, due to that massive number of refugees that have flocked to the border since 2011, some refugees are being refused entrance into Turkey while more camps are being constructed.

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Refugees waiting at the border are usually brought food and supplies and living communities are usually established just on the Syrian side of the border. Originally Turkey refused international aid, confident they could shoulder the burden of the refugees on their own.

Recently, as the Turkish government has already spent $700 million, they have called for international assistance such as the establishment of a no-fly zone, movement of refugees to European nations, and financial assistance. Refugees with Syrian passports, which are hard to obtain due to the current state of the Syrian government, are free to enter Turkey and establish themselves anywhere in the country.(T/P04/E1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)