In 2010, Syria was the last stop where the winds of uprising that started with the Arab Spring protests in Tunisia blew the hardest. Syria, under the dictatorial regime of Bashar Assad, greeted these uprisings with great anger. Assad’s anger soon led to the genocide of his own people and the beginning of a period of torture. The civilian population, who did not know what to do out of fear for their lives, fled their hometowns and tried to cling to life. The Assad regime punished anyone who disobeyed with death, threats and exile, as it was in Nazi Germany. It was challenging to escape. However, the people who managed to do it reached the border regions on foot and asked for asylum. The Republic of Türkiye was, of course, at the forefront of these regions.
Türkiye has both historical and geographical ties to Syria. In line with its tolerant and humane policy, Türkiye granted asylum to civilians fleeing the Assad regime and granted temporary protection status under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection. Syrians with temporary protection status benefit from all humanitarian practices in Türkiye, such as the right to free health care, the right to education, the right to life and the right to work. Those who meet the rules, security conditions and other criteria set by the migration administration have obtained citizenship.
Türkiye currently has the most significant number of Syrian refugees in the world. These are people with poor financial situations, belonging to multi-person families, with a high number of women and children. While Europe only accepts asylum-seekers with high economic status, Türkiye has accepted everyone who does not have security problems. Therefore, it has done what the European Union countries could not do. In fact, Türkiye was the first country to welcome this migration; on March 30, 2012, it published the “Directive on the Reception and Accommodation of Citizens of the Syrian Arab Republic and Stateless Persons Residing in the Syrian Arab Republic Arriving in Türkiye for Mass Asylum.” It started all kinds of legal arrangements to manage the mass migration flow from Syria.
Syria’s liberation in 13 days
Thirteen years of captivity, persecution, death, torture and exile ended in 13 days. On Nov. 27, 2024, the uprising against the Assad regime was launched with “Operation Dawn of Freedom” organized by the anti-regime groups, the Syrian National Army (SNA) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The opposition took control of Manbij, Aleppo and the M4 highway on Nov. 30, 2024, and captured the city of Hama on Dec. 5. Damascus, the heart and capital of Syria and the center of the Assad dictatorship, was liberated entirely on Dec. 8, 2024. The rule of the Assad family and the Baath Party has become history.
The Syrian opposition groups, with popular support, ousted the regime from power in a very short time and took back their homeland. In Türkiye, countless Syrians gathered in the squares of the city centers. They celebrated the fall of the Assad regime with Turkish and Syrian flags, with hundreds of people taking to the roads to return to their country. In interviews they gave within these few days, they exclaimed their desire to return to their country immediately and said that they missed their homeland and other family members living there.
Voluntary and honorable returns
According to the statistics of the Directorate of Migration Management (2024), there are currently 2.9 million Syrians under temporary protection in Türkiye (excluding the number of Syrians who have acquired Turkish citizenship). Among this number, 1.2 million are from Aleppo, which constitutes 42% of the total. In addition, the total number of people from Idlib is 189,000, and from Deir el-Zour is 107,000.
This distribution helps us to understand the situation of voluntary returns over the years. It was observed that most of the people who could not return were from Aleppo, which was under the control of the Assad regime. We can say that Syrians who do not want to go to another city other than their hometown are more likely to return now that Aleppo has been taken.
It was announced that already in 2024, an average of 11,000 Syrians have voluntarily returned to safe areas of Syria cleared of terrorists by Turkish operations. Regions such as Aleppo, Homs, Hama and Damascus, which are mostly under the control of the Syrian National Army (SNA), if not all of Syria, as well as the regions in Türkiye’s peace corridor, have begun preparations for the voluntary, safe and dignified return of Syrians.
As the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing YPG, which took advantage of the Assad regime’s flight from the country, loses power over time and the remnants of the war begin to recover, it will accelerate the mass return of Syrian families from Türkiye and other countries to their homeland. Migration has already started, and lines are forming at the border gates, as reported by all media outlets. Journalists and security forces broadcasting from the area have stated that the region is ready for migration and that they foresee a free Syria again. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s announcement that Syrians would be able to return to their country safely will also accelerate the reverse migration.
There are also places of great terror and genocide, like the Sednaya prison. Both the people trapped in Syria and the opposition soldiers rushed to Sednaya to free their family members. The prison, where countless people were subjected to irrational torture, is very similar to the Nazi camps. But there are still numerous people who remain in Assad’s prisons. Many Syrian refugees have begun to return to Syria in search of their relatives in these death camps.
Türkiye’s contribution to the process
With the end of Assad’s rule, a significant process of change has begun in Syria. To make Syria a country ready for the return, various work, investments and arrangements have been started rapidly under the leadership of Türkiye. Administrative and organizational services, including security improvements, are also being developed.
As for the first steps, the Turkish Embassy in Damascus was reopened after 12 years. Türkiye’s Ambassador to Mauritania Burhan Köroğlu was appointed as the interim charge d’affaires. Ibrahim Kalın, the head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), with his team, visited and prayed at the Umayyad Mosque, one of the most important works of Islamic architecture.
Finally, on Dec. 16, 2024, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump made an important statement on Türkiye and Syria relations, saying, “Turks have realized their millennial dream. Turkey has become a very smart and powerful state and a key country in the region,” and congratulated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his achievements.
The next day, Dec. 17., Erdoğan received European Commission President von der Leyen in Ankara. During the meeting, von der Leyen announced that relations between Türkiye and the EU would be further strengthened, that Türkiye was a key country in the migration issue and that an extra 1 billion euros ($1.04 billion) would be provided for Syrian refugees for 2024. This new announcement could mean that the EU will continue to support Türkiye’s migration management in 2025 financially.