Turkey marks 10 years of coexistence with Syrian refugees

ANKARA: Turkey has marked the 10th anniversary of immigration of Syrian refugees, who fled the Civil War in their conflict-ridden country.

Since the initial arrival of a couple of hundreds Syrians in April 2011, their number has increased exponentially, reaching 3.7 million, according to official data released on Saturday. Never to date, Turkey had witnessed a wave of immigration of such a scale, Xinhua news agency reported.

Novel institutions and policies have been established to address the challenge of offering Syrians a new life in the country.

First welcomed in many camps near the Syrian border in southeast Turkey in line with an "open door" policy, the refugees now live scattered across the Turkish soil. Roughly two-thirds are concentrated in urban areas, benefiting from European and Turkish humanitarian aid schemes. Syrians are classified as having "temporary protection" status and not as refugees. In a decade, nearly half a million Syrian babies have been born in the country. (IANS)

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