More than 30,000 Syrians return home: Turkiye
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Nearly three million Syrian refugees fled to Turkiye since the war on Syria began in 2011.
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Syrian families arrive at the Cilvegozu border gate to cross into Syria from Turkiye near Antakya, southern Turkiye on December 10, 2024. (AP)
Nearly 31,000 Syrians have returned home since the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad, Turkiye's interior minister said Friday, with the total increasing by about 5,000 in only three days.
"The number of people who went back is 30,663," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told TGRT news station, adding that "30 percent" of them were born in Turkiye.
Nearly three million Syrian refugees have fled to Turkiye since the war on Syria began in 2011, and the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government has raised expectations that many may return.
Yerlikaya told Anadolu on Tuesday that more than 25,000 Syrians have returned and that they will be able to leave and return to Turkiye three times in the first half of 2025.
Ankara will also establish "a migration management office" in Aleppo, where the majority of the refugees residing in Turkey come from, he said Friday.
Turkiye would also reopen its general consulate in Aleppo "in a few days," he said, repeating President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statements earlier this week.
The Turkish president hoped that the formation of a new Syrian government, under the leadership of Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, would enhance bilateral ties between the neighboring countries.
Moreover, Erdogan expressed his pleasure with Western and Muslim governments developing contact with al-Sharaa. He also said that he will hold talks with United States President-elect Donald Trump when he takes office next month.
Read more: European countries reassess Syrian migrant status, deportation plans
He also stressed the need to lift sanctions imposed on the previous regime to allow the country to rebuild.
Lebanese PM says Syrian refugees should return home after Assad's fall
Last week, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati called for the return of Syrian refugees to their homeland following the political shift in Syria.
At a political festival in Rome, Mikati emphasized that "the consequences of the Syrian war made Lebanon home to the largest number of refugees per capita, with one-third of our population comprising of Syrian refugees."
"The strain on our resources has been substantial, worsening existing economic trouble and creating fierce competition for jobs and services," he said.
The Lebanese premier pointed out that "today, and after the political transformation in Syria, the best resolution to this issue is for Syrians to go back to their homeland."
Lebanese authorities report that the country, with a population of 5.8 million, is currently home to approximately two million Syrian refugees, including over 800,000 registered with the United Nations—marking the highest number of refugees per capita globally.
Speaking at the political festival organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party, Mikati called on the international community, particularly Europe, to support the return of Syrian refugees.
According to Mikati, this should be achieved "by engaging in early recovery efforts in secure areas with Syria."
