ANKARA, Turkiye: Growing warmth in ties between Ankara and Damascus has raised fears among refugees in Turkiye that they will be deported back to Syria.
Syrian officials have said normalization can only occur if Turkiye withdraws its troops from opposition-held areas, a condition Ankara finds unacceptable. Despite this, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken increasingly about reconciliation, even suggesting he would invite Syrian leader Bashar Assad to restore relations severed since 2011.
There are fears that Erdogan will make a deal with Assad and send the Syrians back, said Samir Alabdullah of the Harmoon Centre for Contemporary Studies in Istanbul city. More than 3 million Syrian migrants reside in Turkiye, where resentment is growing.
Ahmad, a 19-year-old Syrian student, mentioned his family is considering selling their property due to anti-immigrant unrest, despite having Turkish citizenship. Incidents of violence and anti-immigrant sentiments have left many Syrians, including children, feeling unsafe.
