Refugees in Turkey

A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Interview

UNRWA plans Turkey office to boost Gaza, Syria aid as pledges dip

Speaking exclusively to Al-Monitor, UNRWA’s Tamara Alrifai said the upcoming Turkey office would help the agency to expand its operations not only in Gaza but also in Syria.

Workers walk past the gas turbine and heat recovery system of Syria's largest power plant on June 12, 2025 in Deir Ali, Syria.

Turkey to begin natural gas exports to Syria on Aug. 2: What to know

Turkey will supply gas via a swap deal with Azerbaijan, backed by Qatar financing, the Turkish energy minister said.

Turkish soldiers patrol near the border wall between Turkey and Iran in the Van Province, eastern Turkey, on Nov. 1, 2024.

Turkey ramps up Iran border security as Ankara, UNHCR monitor refugee risks

UNHCR stands ready to support Turkey, though no major refugee movement has been observed along the Iranian border, the international body’s Turkey spokesperson told Al-Monitor.

Syrians living in Turkey carry their belongings towards the Cilvegozu border gate to cross into Syria after after Syrian rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 13, 2024 in Cilvegozu, Turkey.

Analysis

As Turkey eases ban, Syrian refugees can now visit before deciding to return

Turkey is allowing one adult per Syrian family to return after visiting their homeland, but experts warn that easing restrictions may not lead to significant refugee returns amid ongoing uncertainties in Syria.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Latest News

Feature

'Immense joy and disbelief': Syrians in Turkey want to return, but uncertainty prevails

A Syrian refugee gestures as she speaks with Turkish soldiers at Cilvegozu crossborder gate before entering in Syria at Reyhanli district in Hatay, on December 9, 2024. Islamist-led rebels declared on December 8, 2024, that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive, sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

A correspondent in Turkey

By A correspondent in Turkey

With Assad gone, Turkey urges Syrian opposition to unite, warns against PKK

Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister, Hakan Fidan delivers a press conferense after his meeting with his Greek counterpart in Athens, on November 8, 2024. (Photo by Aris MESSINIS / AFP) (Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrians in Turkey change attire, avoid cars after mob attacks

Syrians attend the burial of a man killed during clashes with Turkish troops, in Afrin in northern Syria on July 2, 2024.

Erdogan open to hosting Assad, Putin as Syria-Turkey channels widen

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad during their meeting in Sochi on May 17, 2018.

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey grapples with policy change on Syria

Ankara's complex ties with Moscow, the political cost of Syrian refugees and looming elections are all dictating dialogue with Damascus on Ankara, but it has yet to come up with a plan to proceed.

An aerial view shows Syrian children playing in a portable swimming pool set up by volunteers, at a camp for the displaced in the rebel-held town of Kafr Yahmul in the northern countryside of Idlib, Syria, Aug. 10, 2022.

Turkey completes more than 62,000 homes in Idlib, but will refugees return home?

Syrian refugees fear that the Turkish government will go ahead with its plan to deport them to northwest Syria.

A participant faces riot policemen wearing a rainbow flag during a Pride march in Istanbul, on June 26, 2022.

Life as an LGBTQ refugee in Turkey

LGBTQ refugees from Middle Eastern countries face multifold hardships in Turkey amid a rise in anti-refugee sentiment and a persisting social stigma against gay and transgender people.

Displaced Syrian children attend a class in Bab al-Salama camp for people fleeing the violence in Syria, on the border with Turkey, Oct. 27, 2014.

Culture

Syrian children in Turkey lose touch with Arabic language

The new generation of Syrian refugees in Turkey prefer to speak Turkish rather than Arabic in order not to be discriminated against.

In the Studio Project’s live performance in Istanbul on June 30.

Culture

Syrian musicians carve out small space in Istanbul’s live music scene

Istanbul’s Syrian-run small art spaces have become a conduit of connection between locals and the refugee population through music amid high running anti-refugee sentiment across the country.

A youth breaks a window as men smash up shops and homes believed to be owned by Syrian families.

Syrian refugees recount harassment, abuse in Turkey

Syrian refugees in Turkey are living in constant fear among rising attacks, while the Turkish government increases restrictions on them.

Astana

Russia, Iran won't endorse Turkish military operation in Syria

At the latest Astana Group meeting on Syria, Russia and Iran tried to soothe Turkey by rejecting the Kurdish-led self-rule in northern Syria in a joint declaration this week.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Iran, Turkey brace for face-off in Syria

Iran has been trying to dissuade Turkey from a fresh intervention in Syria while making military preparations on the ground to protect its interests amid a growing rift between the two neighbors.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu shake hands during a joint press conference following their talks in Moscow on March 16, 2022.

Ukraine, Syria top Lavrov's agenda in Turkey

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in Ankara on June 8.

A Turkish Special Forces Police officer is seen standing watch during a press tour at a border outpost in front of a section of the new Iran - Turkey border wall on Sept. 27, 2021 in Caldiran, Turkey.

Traffickers use refugees to smuggle drugs from Iran to Turkey

There are growing claims and indications that refugees illegally crossing the Iranian-Turkish border, the route of an exodus from Afghanistan to the West, are forced to smuggle drugs by their traffickers.

Turkey women

Turkish women's rights activists decry racism in their name

Dozens of Turkey’s grassroots women rights groups issued a statement against racism and anti-immigrant sentiment, only to face angry reaction from many parts of the political spectrum.

Syrian rebel fighters man anti-aircraft guns.

Syrians dodge military conscription

Syrian military-age men are fleeing conscription, forcing them to defer their future or pay back the government.