 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2025) |
 Syrian refugee share of provincial population (as of November 20, 2025) | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 2.7 million Registered refugees in Temporary Protection Status: 2,375,909 People with a residence permit: 76,928 (as of August 2024)[3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Syrian population in descending order:Istanbul,Gaziantep,Şanlıurfa,Adana,Hatay,Mersin,Bursa,Konya,İzmir,Ankara | |
| Languages | |
| Syrian Arabic,Kurdish,Turkish,Syriac | |
| Religion | |
| PredominantlySunni Islam, minorities ofShia Islam (Isma'ilism,Nusayris),Christians (Syriac Christianity,Eastern Catholic Churches). | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Arabs,Kurds,Syrian Turkmen,Armenians,Assyrians |
Over 2.7 millionSyrians live inTurkey,[4] many of whomfled the Syrian Civil War in the 2010s. They include Turkish citizens of Syrian origin,Syrian refugees, and other Syrian citizens resident inTurkey. As of November 2025, 2.4 million registeredrefugees of the Syrian Civil War reside in Turkey, which hostsone of the biggest refugee populations in the world.[5][6] In addition, more than 76,000 Syrian nationals reside in Turkey with a residence permit.[7] Over 238 thousand Syrian nationals have acquiredTurkish citizenship.[8] Many children were born or grew up in Turkey and don't have strong ties to Syria.[9]
Syrians are generally concentrated in theborder provinces andmajor cities in Turkey, and only 1.3% of them live inrefugee camps.[10]Istanbul, the most populous city in Turkey, hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees, with more than 420,000 registered people.[11][12]
Ümit Özdağ, chairman ofVictory Party, alleged that number of Syrian population who gained Turkish citizenship is 1,476,368 as of July 2022.[13] He also claimed that number of Syrians in Turkey is about 5.3 million including unregistered ones.[14] In May 2023, during a visit to Victory Party headquarters, AKP deputy chairmanNuman Kurtulmuş said that there are 4,994 million Syrians in Turkey.[15]
Before theOttoman Empire was destroyed byWorld War I there was no definite boundary between the Syrian and Turkish parts of the Empire,[16] but during that warCemal Pasha exiled someArabists from Syria toAnatolia.[17] The current frontier was not finalised until 1939 with thetransfer of Hatay fromFrench controlled Syria. It is the longest land border of both countries and their north–south gateway.[18]
After the start ofSyrian civil war in 2011, Syrian refugees started to immigrate Turkey. The migration has accelerated in 2014 after the rise ofIslamic State of Iraq and Levant. The number of Syrian refugees registered undertemporary protection status peaked in 2021 with more than 3.7 million people and has been decreasing since then.[19]
In 2017, Syrian citizens accounted for 24% of all work permits granted to foreign nationals, making Syrians the largest single group of foreign nationals with work permits.[20]
Following the Turkish military intervention in theAfrin District in Northern Syria against the Kurdish YPG militia, some Turkish politicians have suggested that Syrian refugees in Turkey should be repatriated to Syria.[21]
According to news releases in 2019; there are 405,521 Syrians born in Turkey since 2011, 79,820 Syrians who got Turkish citizenship, approximately 329,000 Syrians who returned to Syria, 31,185 Syrians who have working permits, and 15,159 companies which have at least one Syrian company member.[22]
In December 2024 PresidentErdoğan announced he will open a third border crossing enabling more Syrian refugees to return to Syria, following thefall of the Assad regime.[23]
474,018 Syrian refugees have returned to Syria after thefall of the Assad Regime as of September 9, 2025. Total number of refugees returned to Syria from Turkey since 2016 was 1,213,620 as of the same date.[24]
In 2022 Turkey were criticized byHuman Rights Watch for pressuring Syrians living in Turkey to move toTell Abyad, a Turkish-occupied district of northern Syria.[25][26][27]
In 2024 there were multiple incidents tomob violence against Syrian refugees in Turkey.[28]
Syrians living in Turkey are formed of various ethnic and religious groups. The majority areArabs (includingPalestinians) whileSyrian Kurds andSyrian Turkmen make up the significant minorities.[29] It is estimated by theUNHCR that more than 80% of the Syrian population in Turkey are ethnicArabs, while 10-15% of them are ethnicKurds and 10-15% of them are ethnic Turks (Syrian Turkmen). The same report indicates that 81%, 16.1% and 13.3% state their native languages asArabic,Kurdish andTurkish, respectively. (More than one option was available.)[30]
Turkey has the world's third-largest population of Syrian Arabs, after Syria and Brazil.[31][32][33][34]
By December 2016 the Turkish Foreign Ministry UndersecretaryÜmit Yalçın stated that Turkey opened its borders to 500,000 Syrian Turkmen.[35]
In 2020 theVoice of America reported that 1,000,000 Syrian Turkmen (including descendants) who are living in Turkey are requesting to become Turkish citizens.[36]
Some Assyrians who have fled fromISIL have found temporary homes in the city ofMidyat. A refugee center is located near Midyat, but due to there being a smallAssyrian community in Midyat, many of the Assyrian refugees at the camp went to Midyat hoping for better conditions than what the refugee camp had. To their surprise,[clarification needed] many refugees were in fact given help and accommodations by the local Assyrian community there, perhaps wishing that the refugees stay, as the community in Midyat is in need of more members.[37]
As of 2021[update] there are 1.7 million Syrian refugee children in the country, and since 2017 the government has committed to integrating them into the national school system.[38]
As of 2019[update] the trade minister said there were almost 14,000 Syrian owned businesses, which was almost 30% of the total number of foreign owned businesses, with a capital of 4 billion Turkish liras ($480 million).[39] About 40% of businesses are estimated to be jointly owned with Turks or other nationals.[39]
| Pre-war population 22±.5;Internally displaced 6±.5,Refugees 5.5±.5,Fatalities 0.5±.1 (millions)[citation needed] | |
| Syrian refugees | |
| By country | Turkey,Lebanon,Egypt,Jordan |
| Settlements | Camps:Jordan |
| Internally displaced Syrians | |
| Casualties of the war | |
| Crimes | War crimes,massacres,rape |
| Return of refugees,Refugees as weapons,Prosecution of war criminals | |
Syrian refugees who fled theSyrian civil war make up the largest group of Syrians in Turkey. Turkey hosted nearly three million refugees when theAssad regime fell in December 2024.[40]
As part ofTurkey's migrant crisis, according to theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in 2018 Turkey was hosting 63% of all of the Syrian refugees in the world.[41] More than a third of the refugees are hosted inSoutheastern Turkey, near theSyria-Turkey border.[42]
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2020) |
In 2014, the capacity of the camps established in 2012 and 2013 became insufficient.[43] In 2014, refugees according to their own preferences begin to migrate across provinces.[43]
About 30% live in 22 government-run camps near the Syrian border.[44]
The number of refugees in transit to Europe dramatically increased in 2015.[45]
Up to 300,000 Syrian refugees living in Turkey could be given citizenship, allegedly, under a plan to keep wealthy and educated Syrians in the country.[46] The current policy towards the Syrian refugees provides temporary protection and homage non-European refugees. According to the policy, Turkey has a legal responsibility towards European refugees only, but for the rest it is only through voluntary action. The temporary protection offered by Turkey to Syrians seeking refuge in the country means that they are limited in some ways.[47] Under temporary protection, Syrians in Turkey are limited from working, especially in formal employment. The temporary protection policy does not guarantee the Syrian refugees permanent protection that would allow them to compete for jobs equally with the Turkish citizens. In some cases the large number of refugees in the country has contributed to the nation changing its citizenship laws to integrate some of the refugees from Syria. Skilled Syrians are provided with citizenship because they contribute positively to the growth of the economy.[48] There is noautomatic citizenship for those born in the country.[49]
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(This figure isunduly precise)
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2020) |
As of April 2014 (2011–2014):[50]
As of April 2018 (2011–2018):[51]
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2020) |
Turkey allocated US$30 billion between 2011 and 2018 on refugee assistance.[52]
Millions of Syrians received aid from theTurkish Aid Agency (AFAD). Turkey has spent more than any other country on Syrian refugee aid, and has also been subject to criticism for opening refugee camps on the Syrian side of the border.[53]
Financial aid from other countries to Syrian Refugees has been limited, though €3,200,000,000 waspromised by the EU in November 2015.[54] In March 2016, the EU and Turkey agreed on the EU-Turkey Statement, which involved a number of political concessions as well as 'another €3 billion in aid, if Turkey agreed to a readmission of Syrians arriving in Greece and tighter border controls.'[55]
In 2018, the Directorate General of Migration Management built a fingerprint identification system for a more efficient distribution of financial aid to Syrian Refugees.[56]
On 2 December 2021, the EU announced it would be providing assistance of €325 million (around $368 million) for refugees in Turkey. The aid would be loaded on to the debit cards of refugees, helping more than 1.5 million to cover their most essential needs, such as food, rent, transport and medicine.[57]
Under Turkish law, Syrian refugees cannot apply for resettlement but only temporary protection status. Registering for temporary protection status gives access to state services such as health and education, as well as the right to apply for a work permit in certain geographic areas and professions.[citation needed]
A study which was supported by the Istanbul University Scientific Research Projects unit and conducted by academics from a number of universities, revealed that the vast majority of Syrians in Turkey are employed in unregistered work for significantly lower wages compared to their Turkish counterparts.[58]
However, compared to the increase in refugees, benefits for the increased number of people did not increase accordingly.[clarification needed] In fact, only 712,218 were given residency permits only 56,024 work permits were given to the Syrians by 2017.[59][needs update]
Turkey's response to the refugee crisis is different from most other countries. As a World Bank report noted: It is a non-camp and government financed approach, as opposed to directing refugees into camps that rely on humanitarian aid agencies for support.[60]
Nativism emerged as a significant issue in Turkish politics concerning Syrian immigration and refugees. In recent years, the Turkish public discussions have witnessed an increase in patriotism during the cross-border military offensive against the Syrian regime, with nationalist keywords being used to target Syrian immigrants and refugees. TheCOVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the situation, with welfare chauvinism dominating the social media discourse. Turkish citizens are increasingly viewed as deserving of priority in social benefits offered by the government, leading to negative attitudes towards immigrants. However, despite the anti-immigrant sentiments, symbolic nativism is barely present in discussions, and cultural markers are not strongly emphasized. Immigrants are seldom framed as a threat to the "Turkish way of life," and instead, the cowardice of immigrants is a frequently recurring concept in social media posts with patriotic content. This complex interplay between patriotism, welfare chauvinism, and anti-immigrant attitudes in Turkish politics is an area of ongoing research and analysis.[61] Another academic analysis says thatmilitarism (about both historical and current military conflicts in Syria) is important in how Turks think about their nationality.[62]
Anti-Arab sentiments in the country have significantly increased since the influx of Syrian refugees into Turkey.[63][64][65][66]
As of March 2018, about 60% (600,000 primary and secondary education) of Syrian school-aged children under temporary protection remain in school.[67] The EU has supported education, through a €300 million direct grant to the Ministry of National Education.[67] Turkey's educational support:[67]
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2020) |
As of October 2014 (2011–2014), Turkey provided with its own resources:[43]
As of 31 March 2022[update] there are 3,763,565 registered Syrian refugees in Turkey.[68]
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Yalçın explained how Turkey opened its borders to 100,000 Turkmens from Iraq and 500,000 from Syria, sharing their pain and trying to mend their wounds as much as they could with economic, social and humanitarian aid.
1 Milyon Suriyeli Türkmen Vatandaşlık Hakkından Yararlanmak İstiyor.
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| Census in Turkey | |
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