Türkiye hosts 3.6 mln foreign nationals, minister says
Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi on June 25 announced that over 3.6 million foreign nationals currently have legal residence status in Türkiye, including 2.2 million Syrians under temporary protection.
In a written statement, Çiftçi said a total of 1.4 million Syrians “voluntarily, safely and with dignity” returned to their country between 2016 and 2026.
Following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, millions of Syrians fled their homes, triggering a large-scale migration wave toward Europe, while neighboring Türkiye became the country hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees.
The number of returnees has increased since the fall of the long-rime ruler Bashar al-Assad’s regime at the end of 2024.
