Refugees of the 2011–2012 Syrian uprising

According to the Turkish Interior Ministry, the number of Syrians that have come to Turkey since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011 has reached 1.385 million. This is a figure close to 2 percent of Turkey’s population.

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay has sought to allay widening concerns over the growing number of Syrian refugees begging on streets as well as over the cheap labor force provided by the refugees, while calling on provincial administrations to deal with the issue, via assistance from civil society if necessary.

The Turkish government has announced that from 2011 to 2013 it spent 209 million Turkish Liras, or nearly $100 million, on health treatments for Syrians who have fled to Turkey from the civil war in their country.

The fast-breaking (iftar) dinners provided by Istanbul’s central Beyoğlu Municipality have become a rare opportunity for Syrian refugees to receive free and substantial meals.

Syrians fleeing their country’s conflict have found some respite in Istanbul, but many compatriots are not so lucky

Syrian families who have fled their country due to ongoing war have found shelter on Istanbul sidewalks and parks, clutching onto life with the help of locals, but others face harsher conditions elsewhere in Turkey.

Tension between locals and Syrians escalated in the southeastern province of Gaziantep when a car with a Syrian plate hit a family on July 15, injuring a mother and a daughter.

The U.N. Security Council authorized on July 14 humanitarian convoys to enter through four border crossings, across Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, without the approval of the government in Damascus. The resolution will allow aid deliveries to take place at Turkey’s Cilvegözü (Bab al-Hawa) and Öncüpınar (Bab al-Salam) border gates into areas held by Syrian rebels.

A crowd in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş marched against the presence of Syrian migrants in the city on July 13, before attacking a number of Syrians and brawling with the police.

Syrian refugees begging in the Eminönü neighborhood of Istanbul were caught by the city’s municipal police on July 7 and offered a free bus trip to the Anatolian side of the city, only to be sent straight back to Eminönü by Kadıköy’s municipal police hours later, according to witnesses.

An increasing number of Syrian refugees has started work in the service sector, thanks to their language abilities.