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Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said Thursday that 1.5 million Syrians have returned to their home country over the past 10 years, with returns accelerating sharply since the fall of the Assad regime in December, in a live interview on NTV in which he outlined Türkiye's migration policy and border security measures.
"I evaluate our migration policy from a humane, conscientious and legal perspective," Ciftci said, adding, "We will act accordingly and shape all our migration policies on this basis."
Ciftci said Türkiye currently has 3,623,000 foreign nationals with legal residence rights, of whom 2,235,000 are Syrian.
He said Syrians began returning to their country following the regime change on Dec. 8, with 1.5 million having returned over the past 10 years overall, and 723,000 of that total having returned since Dec. 8 specifically.
"Syrians began returning to their country after the regime change on Dec. 8," Ciftci said.
"Within 10 years, 1.5 million Syrians returned to their country. These returns accelerated after Dec. 8. Since Dec. 8, 723,000 people have returned to their country voluntarily, safely and with dignity. We encourage this. We do not send anyone back by force into death, persecution or an environment of insecurity," he added.
The minister said irregular migration must be managed at its source and that the underlying problems driving migration need to be eliminated.
He said Türkiye has implemented physical measures at its borders to prevent irregular migrants from entering the country.
He said the goal is twofold: to prevent irregular migrants from entering Türkiye in the first place, and, for those who do enter, to create conditions in which they cannot work or find shelter. The Turkish official said blocking undocumented migrants whose purpose for coming is unknown also functions as a security policy.
He added that 1,389 kilometers of border wall have been built so far, fully enclosing Türkiye's southern and eastern borders. These areas are now continuously monitored using thermal cameras, optical towers, and patrol vehicles, he noted.
Syrian nationals, as well as stateless persons and refugees from Syria who came to Türkiye due to the events in Syria after April 28, 2011, are provided temporary protection by the Turkish government, with the Presidency of Migration Management (PMM) serving as the government body responsible for all asylum procedures, including the temporary protection regime.
Türkiye is one of the largest refugee-hosting countries in the world, home to some 3.2 million registered Syrian refugees along with close to 222,000 persons of concern from other nationalities.
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