New Syrian ID cards and passports to be printed in Türkiye

Turkey will print new identity cards, passports and driving licenses for Syrian citizens as part of its support for the new era in its neighbor after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.

An article in Turkish newspaper Sabah said that Turkish institutions were working to meet the demands of the new administration in Syria, particularly regarding the printing of said documents, as well as the status of Syrians returning from Turkey.

The Directorate of Migration Management will open offices in Syria to coordinate the entry and exit of Syrians in Turkey with the new Syrian officials to ensure that refugees will not have difficulty obtaining identification.

Additionally, Turkey is working on the status of Syrians choosing to return or stay, Sabah said.

The “refugee” status of Syrians will be lifted and Turkey will apply the same procedure used for other foreign nationals, meaning that Syrian citizens will have to use their passport and apply for a visa to enter Turkey. The visa procedure for Syrians should, however, be simpler than for other countries.

Syrians choosing to stay in Türkiye will need to follow regulations, including applying for a residence permit.

More than 25,000 Syrian nationals returned to their country between December 9 and 23, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced at the start of the week. This is a record compared to the average of 11,000 monthly returns.

That number skyrocketed after the Syrian revolution toppled Bashar Assad’s Baathist regime following years of civil war that displaced millions of people.

According to recent surveys, at least 70% of Syrians in Türkiye want to return to their country, compared to 45% before the fall of Assad.

Officials anticipate returns will gradually increase over time and accelerate in June, when schools go on vacation.

Turkey has welcomed more than 3 million Syrian refugees since the start of the war more than a decade ago and has pursued a policy of openness to people displaced from its southern neighbor. It now seeks to ensure the voluntary and safe return of refugees as the new administration takes over the country.

A large majority of Syrian refugees in Turkey are optimistic about Syria’s future after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad, and a significant number are eager to return to their country, according to a recent survey.

The survey conducted by Istanbul-based Areda among 1,100 Syrians across Turkey from December 9-11 showed that 91% of Syrians are satisfied with the end of the Assad regime and 71.5% are happy hope for the future of their country. The study showed that 45.5% of Syrians are ready to return home if the situation in Syria improves, while 26.7% are eager to return “as soon as possible.”

Turkey has prioritized the safe, voluntary and dignified return of Syrians, a policy adopted long before the fall of the Assad regime. Yet in the past, refugees had fewer reasons to return and mainly headed to areas liberated from terrorist groups in northern Syria. Yerlikaya noted that more than 763,000 people have returned to Syria from Turkey since 2017.

In the past, Turkey built briquette houses for displaced Syrians in the country’s relatively safer north. In this war-torn country, where many neighborhoods remain in ruins, finding a house in good condition is a challenge for many. Yerlikaya said around 110,000 families live in houses built by Turkish charities and sponsors.

He said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked them during the Cabinet meeting on Monday to build more houses for returning Syrians and that they would cooperate with civil society organizations for the construction.