Syrian refugee overload takes toll on Turkey

The refugees have become an increasingly visible presence in cities including Istanbul Violent protests against their presence have already taken place in Istanbul

Cengiz, a street seller who plies his trade selling bread rings in the centre of Istanbul, is usually a fervent supporter of Turkey’s newly- elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But on one issue, he begs to differ.

“I support Erdogan. But I must say he made one error and that’s to allow the Syrians into our country,” he said.

Mr Erdogan has maintained an “open door” policy for all those fleeing Syria’s civil war, with the result that there are now some 1.2 million Syrian refugees living in the country. Some 285,000 Syrians are accommodated in refugee camps in the south and southeast of the country but a far greater number of 912,000, according to official figures, are now living in Turkish cities. It is these refugees who have become the source of an upsurge in tensions in Turkey, where local authorities appear to have been initially poorly prepared for the huge influx. The refugees have become an increasingly visible presence in cities including Istanbul, with entire families huddled together on carpets and begging in the middle of the pavement in the city centre. Violent protests against their presence have already taken place in Istanbul and in the southeast but there is little chance of the refugees leaving Turkey in the near future, with no end to the civil war in sight.

“The government wanted to invite them, fine. But it had to keep them under control,” said Cengiz, who competes against newlyarrived Syrians selling bread rings in Istanbul’s Taksim Square. Turkey does not call the arrivals “refugees” in official parlance and they do not enjoy refugee status. Instead they are known as “guests” and the refugee camps as “tented cities”.

— AFP