Thousands of refugees are massed on the Syrian-Turkish border, waiting to enter, as Turkey scrambles to build new camps to accommodate them. The growing numbers are making many Turks nervous about what it means for their country.
“The government is calling them guests, not refugees,” Aydin Albayrak of the English-language newspaper Today’s Zaman told The Media Line. “Calling them ‘refugees’ would mean that Turkey has to give them refugee rights and they could stay in the country permanently.”
But guests might not be the correct word either. Albayrak says there are increasing cases of refugees refusing to pay for apartments they have rented or ditching the check at a restaurant. There have also been some clashes between residents in the refugee camps and police. In one recent case, a refugee tried to grab a police officer’s weapon.
The number of refugees has grown quickly. In April, says Aytar, there were 25,000 refugees, and current United Nations figures put the number at 80,000. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu said in a recent television interview that Turkey could host a maximum of 100,000. The refugee camps near the border are already full, and the government is building seven more camps. Overall, UN figures say that more than 202,000 refugees have been registered this year and the $ 193 million dollars that had been budgeted to help them will not be enough.
The issue of the refugees has come to dominate Turkey’s political discourse. Many recognize the humanitarian needs of the refugees but worry that they could have long-term negative effects on Turkey.
“But there is another face to this problem as well,” wrote Yusif Kanli in the Hurriyet Daily News on Monday. “Turkey is unable to control the refugee camps. With the residents of camps freely moving in and out, particularly in Hatay (a town near the border), complaints are mounting that the city has come under occupation.”
There has been talk in Turkey of building camps on the Syrian side of the border, in a Turkish-controlled buffer zone, although Turkish officials say that could embroil them even further in Syria. They also worry they could have even less control over refugee camps on the other side of the border.
Tensions between the two countries increased after a Turkish cameraman reporting from Syria went missing last week. On Monday, he appeared on a pro-government Syrian television station and said he had been seized by soldiers in Aleppo. Cuneyt Unal, who was working for the US-funded Arabic language Al-Hurra, had been with rebel soldiers before being captured.
Turkey has a 600-mile long border with Syria and in recent years the two countries have had close ties. In 2009, they held joint military exercises and that same year Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited Syria at the invitation of Syrian President Bashar Assad. When the current fighting broke out 17 months ago, Turkey was a staunch supporter of the Assad regime. But in recent months, Turkey has become a sharp critic.
In June, Syria shot down a Turkish F-4 Phantom jet near the border. The Syrian military said the jet had violated Turkish airspace. Turkish officials said it was not clear if that was true, but in any case that was no reason to shoot down the jet. Recently, Turkey has been involved in meetings with the US and the Europeans on plans to replace the Syrian government.

— The article was written for The Media Line.