More than 160,000 Syrian refugees have voluntarily returned to their homeland from Türkiye since June last year, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Thursday as Ankara and Damascus work to reboot diplomatic relations.
"Between 2016 and 2024, over 715,000 Syrians crossed the border to Syria as part of our voluntary, safe and dignified return efforts," Yerlikaya told Turkish media.
Türkiye is home to some 3 million Syrian asylum-seekers who are under temporary protection status after fleeing Bashar Assad’s regime when the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011.
"Türkiye continues combating irregular migration in a way that displays a humanitarian stance but doesn’t compromise on public safety," the minister added.
Yerlikaya’s announcement comes after Assad last week issued a general amnesty for those involved in minor offences, which also includes Syrians abroad, particularly in Türkiye.
Experts speculate that this may encourage the voluntary return of refugees in Türkiye, which hosts the largest number of Syrian nationals under international protection status, though it is unclear whether Assad’s move would prompt mass returns.
Türkiye aims to send all refugees home but only voluntarily and in a "dignified" way, as authorities often say. Nevertheless, the situation is still not entirely calm for mass returns to Syria, which was ruined by years of conflict.
Türkiye, which helped the liberation of northern Syrian towns from terrorist groups Daesh and PKK/YPG in recent years, spearheads efforts for rebuilding and safety to facilitate the returns.
The safe zone formed with the aid of Türkiye in Syria’s north and Syria’s border areas, including those in Idlib, is home to 7 million people. The zone also includes new schools, hospitals, industrial sites and better infrastructure.
Türkiye has already joined forces with Qatar to build some fully equipped 240,000 homes across Idlib and Afrin regions over the next three years. The joint "Voluntary, Safe, Honorable Return Project" broke ground in 2023 in Jarablus, a city belonging to Aleppo just south of the Turkish border.
Returns have also increased following the twin earthquakes that left over 56,000 dead combined in southern Türkiye and northern Syria in February 2023.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters last week that they were ready to hold talks with Assad, more than a decade after Ankara and Damascus severed relations in the wake of the 2011 unrest.
Ahead of his trip to the U.S. for the U.N. General Assembly, Erdoğan said he was waiting for the reply of Assad for a meeting to normalize ties.
Erdoğan told reporters that tensions should end in Syria and Türkiye, and Damascus should take joint steps for stability in Syria.
He has noted that conflict between Damascus and the opposition forces has been frozen for a while, providing a fertile ground for a permanent solution to the conflict.
"Millions are awaiting their return to Syria. We demonstrated our will to meet Assad for normalization and await their answer. We hope to achieve the unity of two Muslim countries as soon as possible," Erdoğan said in his most optimistic remarks in the lengthy process so far.
Russia, Iran and Iraq have all urged Erdoğan and Assad to meet.
However, Assad said last month that this effort had yielded no "results worth mentioning," adding that while he wants Turkish troops to withdraw from Syria, it was not a precondition for talks. Damascus wants a timeline for withdrawal, while Ankara wants its concerns over the PKK terrorist group addressed.