Turkey has granted citizenship to 92,000 Syrians
Rahshan Saglam
Press TV, Istanbul
Turkish Interior minister Suleyman Soylu says Turkey has given more than 92 thousand Syrians the Turkish nationality, almost half of them children and most of the adult ones are engineers, teachers and qualified people who can make their living.
The minister’s statements came after Turkey was criticized for relocating and deporting Syrians living in Istanbul. Following instructions of Interior minister himself, the government launched a campaign of relocation and deportation against Syrians living in Istanbul who either are registered in another city or entered the country illegally.
The government says the action aims at controlling the migration and completing the registration process, arguing that a huge number of Syrians have entered the country illegally and are not registered anywhere in the government’s records.
Soylu added on Saturday that 547 thousand Syrians are currently living in Istanbul.
Many now criticize the open border policy that Turkish government led by Erdogan back then have used, the policy resulted in 3.6 million Syrian refugees, with the heaviest concentration in Istanbul.
Analysts link the AKP’s loss in the local election with the government’s rhetoric towards refugees.
Analysts say it seems that Turkey is planning to move a number of refugees to Syria and locate them at the border to keep Kurdish militants away from its borders.
It seems the presence of Syrian refugees in Turkey generally and Istanbul particularly has become a burden for the people and the government. The ruling party has realized now that its open border policy may have been the biggest mistake made.
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