About 10,000 citizens of Syrian origin have returned to the country after a series of earthquakes earlier this month devastated six regions of southeastern Turkey, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Sunday (18). During a visit to Hatay province, one of the most affected in the country, the minister denied the rumors that the catastrophic earthquakes had caused a migratory flow of Syrians to Turkey.
“Nobody entered here. On the contrary. What happens, yes, is a return of Syrians to their land, when they see the places where they lived destroyed,” said Akar, while inspecting the Yayladagi border crossing. “Our Syrian brothers are returning after losing their families or homes in the earthquake. Since the earthquake, 10,633 Syrians have returned to their country of origin voluntarily,” he added.
The 11 Turkish provinces affected by the earthquake together have about 1.75 million Syrian refugees, half of the 3.5 million registered by Turkish authorities. Only Hatay, perhaps the hardest hit by the tremors, is home to 355,000 Syrian citizens. Even before the earthquakes, the Turkish government encouraged Syrians to return to their country of origin, offering free transport to the border, but the flow, although constant, was very low.
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