Here we are posting a link to an interview with the mayor of Esenyurt municipality of Istanbul, Turkey. Esenyurt is a lower-class peripheral district with one of the highest number of Syrians in Istanbul. The information was spread already a while ago that the municipality is organizing busses to drive Syrians back home, creating fear within the Syrian community that they will be picked from their houses and streets and forced for return. Below, the mayor’s statements quoted just as they were broadcasted by Sputniknews apparently demonstrate the perspective of the Turkish regime pretty well.
Via SputnikNews
Elif Sudagezer from Sputnik News reported that Esenyurt Municipality of Istanbul, Turkey repatriated 100 Syrians to Jarabulus and Afrin. By the interview he gave to Sputnik, Ali Murat Alatepe stated that 3500 Syrians were returned up until now and they are planning to return 20 thousand more until the end of the next year.
Via the National
Syria and Washington were both absent from the talks aimed at ending a war in its eighth year.
A “complete cease-fire,” an “inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process” and “safe and voluntary return of refugees” were some of the phrases uttered by Turkish and European leaders at a summit in Istanbul on Saturday, aimed at laying the groundwork for a peace process in the devastating civil war in Syria, now in its eighth year. Continue reading Istanbul Syria peace offers few solutions to the conflict
![Refugee camps flooded, six dead as heavy rains hit Lebanon, Turkey [Twitter]](https://i1.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018_10-26-Refugee-camps-flooded-six-dead-as-heavy-rains-hit-Lebanon-Turkey-8.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=75&strip=all&ssl=1)
Flooding in Lebanon and Turkey has left refugees dead after heavy rains hit the region and swamped refugee camps.
Videos shared by member of the Syrian Negotiations Committee Hadi Albahra, reportedly from refugee camps near the Lebanese border town of Arsal, show the ground completely flooded, with tents and belongings destroyed.
This article was originally published by Middle East Monitor
We feel the urge to publish this internal view of Syria:direct from the out-of-sight Turkish-Syrian border, that is further moved into the northern Syrian territory. Since the Turkish state is increasingly investing in both internal and external policies for the return of Syrian refugees, in addition to the EUropean border regime that is extra fortified via the externalization of controls even-beyond the neighboring Turkey, it is vital to keep an eye on the ongoing situation at the Northern Syria. Apparently, Northern Syria became a regional refugee accommodation center for the displaced Syrians, with Turkey’s effort to exert control over the area through various mechanisms. Therefore the region’s condition is a central determinant both for the responses of Syrian refugees in Turkey (be it from the region or not) to the incentives of return, and for the Syrians in Syria in considering their survival chances within the region or the options of further movement.
Via Syria:direct
AMMAN: When the governor of Turkey’s Kilis province arrived at the opening ceremony of a new courthouse in the northern Aleppo town of a-Rai last month, he was met by Turkish music blasting out of speakers and salutes from local Syrian police officers.
TURKEY’S MIGRATION MANAGEMENT REGIME
Following our attendance at the Kritnet Conference in last May, we finally had the chance to share our contributions in HarekAct. One of our editors focused on the post EU-Turkey deal context in Istanbul, Turkey, which is marked by policies and practices of marginalization, irregularization and criminalization of migrants. The unfavorable conditions in the provision of registration, services and protection, with the implementation of additional mechanisms of securitization, detention and forced deportation, has had the impact of extending the constraints of the global border regime further to directly affect the living experiences of migrants in Istanbul.
In July, Human Rights Watch also published a report on the consequences of Turkey’s suspension of registering Syrians in Istanbul and other nine cities along the Syrian border. The report claims that this practice represents Turkey’s latest efforts in denying new asylum-seekers protection, following the closure of the borders and the shooting at individuals attempting to cross. Ultimately it is forcing Syrians to live under the risk of deportation, without access to urgent services, and having to depend on smugglers inside Turkey.
Reports reveal Turkey’s further plans to engineer the movement of more Syrian populations to the outskirts of Turkey. One of the sources mentions a decision to transfer 34,180 Syrian refugees from five camps to facilities closer to the border with Syria, and another quotes Erdoğan’s pledge to create more safe zones in Syria in order to allow refugees to return. Continue reading HarekAct Newsletter VI – July, August and September 2018
via Daily Sabah
A report by the Interior Ministry is debunking claims by Turkish far-right circles that Syrian refugees in Turkey, which hosts the largest refugee community in the world, are mostly criminals.
This article was originally published by Daily Sabah
Via The Guardian [16.10.2018] – With tension mounting in Idlib, people trying to flee across the border are being given the choice of detention or waiving their right to asylum
Tareq* can recall in detail each of the 22 times he climbed over the concrete border wall, dodged a flurry of bullets, and sprinted as fast as he could – until Turkish border guards caught him and turned him back.
*Names have been changed to protect identities
Via Middle East Monitor – Granting citizenship to Syrians in Turkey is a topic of discussion today more than ever before. So far, more than 50,000 Syrians have acquired Turkish citizenship. This has ignited debates among the Turkish public, primarily due to the provocative media coverage of the topic and increasing nationalism in Turkey.
This week, the Journal of Refugee Studies published a new paper by Deniz Pelek on Syrian refugees working in the agricultural sector in Turkey.
Abstract: This article examines the case of Syrian refugees as seasonal migrant workers in Turkey and critically discusses the working and living conditions fostering their relative vulnerability compared to other workers. Syrian refugees are subject to discriminatory practices in terms of lower wages, longer working hours and improper sheltering conditions. This article explores how unequal power relations between ethnically different groups of workers in the agricultural sector are (re)constructed and the consequences of the emergence of Syrian refugees as a novel class. The essential aim of this study is to unravel the process and practice of ethnically hierarchized agricultural labour market after the entrance of refugees.