Skip to main content

Turkey’s Syria Refugee Crisis

Turkey struggles to handle an increasingly taxing Syrian refugee crisis.
A Syrian refugee woman lies down as she rests in front of her makeshift tent in the town of Viransehir in Sanliurfa province, southeast Turkey, February 10, 2013. Some 50 families, mostly from villages near Syria's Aleppo, prefer to settle in the outskirts of Viransehir instead of refugee camps run by the Turkish government. According to the families, this allows them to work as seasonal agricultural workers.  REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT) - RTR3DL0G

Domestic developments in Turkey have turned public focus away from Ankara’s growing problem with Syrian refugees. Caught between its welcoming rhetoric toward predominantly Sunni Syrians fleeing the wrath of Bashar al-Assad, and the realities on the ground in Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the problem. All the while, he complains about the lack of international support in this regard.

Meanwhile, unease grows in Turkish towns and cities near the Syrian border where large numbers of Alevis sympathetic to Assad live. It seems that the welcome extended to fleeing Syrians by Ankara is wearing thin among locals, who are turning against the refugees, accusing them of disrupting the normal life of the region.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.