Syrian Refugee Center in Turkey, No Credited Photographer
Interviews with Syrian refugees attempting to enter Turkey conducted by Human Rights Watch (HRW) raise concern that Turkey may be starting to restrict entrance to the country. The 51 interviews conducted over the final weeks of October, 2015 claimed 6 were denied entrance into Turkey. Others claimed to having witnessed border guards pushing back other refugees into Syria. These claims have been disputed by Turkish officials. Al Jazeera credits Yasin Aktay, a Turkish MP with the AKP, as stating “In humanitarian terms, Turkey would never consider closing its borders. It has said this numerous times. Turkey would never close its doors to these people who are running for their lives, trying to enter the country only for humanitarian reasons”.
The AKP is the current ruling party of Turkey. The statement by Aktay does hold some weight given there sheer amount of Syrian refugees already admitted into the country throughout the civil war. According to statistics compiled by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the end of 2014 there was an estimate 19.5 million refugees globally. Turkey was credited with hosting 1.59 million total refugees at the time of the report. By the end of 2015, the UNHCR estimated Turkey hosting 2.5 million Syrian refugees alone. This claim is disputed by Turkey closing two of it’s last border posts in March, 2015 due to fighting in Aleppo, Syria.
It should also be noted that HRW, as a Human Rights defense group, is likely to take any suspect actions severely, due to the larger problems that small actions reflect on. As the article is based around the interviews conducted by the HRW, their mentality affects the tone. The HRW section on Turkey states “demonstrated a growing intolerance of political opposition, public protest, and critical media” (in regards to the ruling party, AKP), reflecting an overall negative stance on the country. Reports such as this, though the cases may be isolated, do reflect a growing strain that such a high influx of refugees can have on a country over a prolonged period of time. This also can be used by historians to show a turning point in the Syrian refugee crisis, as Turkey closes it’s borders those fleeing Syria will have to turn to other countries for refuge. The impact this has on other countries (e.g. Germany, EU countries) is what makes it significant.
Avery McGuire
Key Sources
HRW: Turkey pushing back Syrian Refugees at border