Turkey to further limit resident permits for foreigners

ANKARA: Turkey will enforce stricter restrictions on the areas where foreign nationals can reside, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. Soylu added on Saturday that, from July 1, foreigners can not get resident permission in any neighbourhood where the foreign population accounts for 20 per cent of the total, noting that up to 1,200 neighbourhoods will be affected by the new regulation.

The Turkish government first announced in February that foreigners, including Syrians, would no longer be permitted to live in areas where the foreign population exceeds 25 per cent of the total, Xinhua news agency reported. The Minister also said the Turkish government will not allow Syrians to visit their families in Syria for the approaching Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice. The festival is set for mid-July this year.

Earlier this year, the same ban was imposed for Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan. Hosting about 3.7 million Syrian refugees within its borders, Turkey has seen a growing anti-migrant sentiment cross the country amid one of its worst economic troubles in years. IANS

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