Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on Tuesday that more than 81,000 Syrians have returned home since December 9 following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by an alliance of rebel groups last month, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.
“Since December 9, 81,576 of our Syrian brothers and sisters have returned to their country voluntarily, safely and honorably,” the minister said at an event on migration at the ministry building in Ankara on Wednesday.
The minister said a total of 821,579 Syrians who had taken refuge in Turkey due to the civil war in Syria have also returned Syria since 2017, adding that the government will continue to extend the necessary support to Syrians for their safe return to their homeland.
Turkey is home to nearly 3 million refugees who have fled Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011, with the fall of Assad raising hopes that many would return home.
The Turkish government has allowed Syrians who want to move back to their homeland to leave and re-enter Turkey three times in the first half of 2025 to help them during resettlement, with one person from each family granted three entrances and exits.