“More than 25,000 Syrians have come back to their homeland from Turkey following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad by ‘Hayat Tahrir al-Sham‘,” said Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya yesterday. Hosted by Turkey, nearly three million refugees fled Syria due to the civil war that erupted in 2011. Under growing domestic pressure regarding their presence, the new political leadership created by the overthrow in Damascus has allowed Ankara to continue its measures towards the voluntary return of Syrian refugees.
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“The number of returnees in the last fifteen days has increased to 25,000,” Yerlikaya told the official Anadolu agency from Turkey. Meanwhile, Turkey enlisted recent contacts with the new leadership in Syria, indicating a shift. Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus after 12 years since it first closed the mission soon after the start of the civil war in Syria and just days after the ousting of the Assad regime by forces that received support from Turkey.
Yerlikaya also mentioned that arrangements were being made to create a migration office at the Turkey embassy and consulate in Damascus and Aleppo. Such offices would maintain an account of returning Syrian refugees. Turkey wants more refugees to return home safely as a result of the new political weather, which would relieve the Turkish population and calm the public.