ANKARA – It’s been well over a decade since millions of Syrians flooded into Turkey en masse, seeking refuge from the civil war at home. But today, there are increasing signs the refugees may have worn out their welcome.
This month, anti-Syrian riots took place in several cities across the country. In the capital Ankara, opposition parties are calling for mass deportations, and the government is calling on the Syrian regime it once sought to topple to help resolve the problem.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is now publicly seeking a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, the man he once labeled a terrorist, to reset relations. Before the Syrian civil war, the two leaders vacationed together, but years later, after the Syrian regime brutally crushed a public revolt, Erdogan sought to oust him from office and backed local forces fighting against him.
“We believe that it is beneficial to open clenched fists,” Erdogan said this month. “We want disputes to be resolved through mutual dialogue at the negotiation table.”
Turkey is hosting an estimated 3.1 million Syrian refugees – more than any other country. Unofficial estimates are much higher, given that undocumented refugees aren’t counted.
But overcoming a bitter, years-long personal feud and extremely complex relations between Ankara and Damascus will be no small feat. Turkish troops remain in control of a swath of Syrian territory along the Turkish border where Syrian opposition groups are sheltering.
For Erdogan, “immigration and refugees are the main concern,” said Bilal Bagis, an analyst at the government-leaning SETA think tank in Ankara. “It’s becoming a political argument against the incumbent government in Turkey… and it definitely has turned into something that needs to be resolved.”
Assad has long made clear that there will only be a meeting when Turkey withdraws troops from Syria, although he indicated this week that he would meet if the topic was at least on the agenda.
“If the meeting leads to results, or if there’s a hug, a scolding, or even cheek-kissing that serves the country’s interest, I will do it,” Assad said. “The problem is not in the meeting itself but in the content of the meeting.”
While there are no signs that Turkey would withdraw from Syria or drop its support for the Syrian opposition, the olive branch from Ankara indicates the pressure Erdogan is under to deal with the discontent at home.
This month, reports of a Syrian man sexually abusing his seven-year-old Syrian cousin sparked riots and violence in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri, with Turks targeting Syrian-owned businesses and cars.
The government blamed social media for fueling the unrest, which quickly spread to other cities. In Antalya, a teenager was killed and in Istanbul, an Arab man was threatened with a knife at a restaurant in an upscale part of the city. Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said hundreds of people were arrested in the aftermath.
The riots exposed long-simmering tensions between Syrians and Turks that have been made worse by the economic pressures brought by Turkey’s sky-high inflation.
Unlike European nations, where Syrian refugees are being permanently resettled, most Syrians in Turkey are treated as “guests” with temporary protection and are subject to a number of restrictions.
Most Syrians cannot travel freely within the country. Fewer than 10% of Syrian adults have work permits, with the rest being limited to informal, under-the-table jobs. Untold numbers of Syrian children are not in school, either because they work or face difficulty enrolling due to rules requiring them to attend schools in the areas where they were initially registered. Only a small proportion of Syrians have been granted citizenship in the country of 85 million. (CNN)…[+]
