The Labor and Social Security Ministry has given work permits to 3,800 Syrian refugees who fulfilled the required qualifications. Syrians who fled their country because of the civil war and took refuge in Turkey are benefiting from regulations that allow them to work in Turkey. The regulation about work permits for foreigners given temporary protection in Turkey was published in the official gazette on Jan. 15. Accordingly, 3,800 applicants that are Syrian refugees have been given work permits as they fulfilled the required conditions.
The work permits given to Syrian refugees will be valid in the construction, textile and manufacturing sectors. The maximum validity period of work permit documents is one year, and they must be renewed when they lose validity. However, they cannot be used as residence permits.
The Syrian refugees' applications to work in professions where only Turkish citizens are allowed to work were left out of this assessment. Furthermore, the number of Syrians who are allowed to work in a workplace cannot exceed 10 percent. Despite this restriction, if an employer presents a document to the Provincial Work and Labor Directorate four weeks ahead of applications for work permits, showing that he cannot find Turkish citizens of the same quality as Syrians for a particular job, an employment quota for Syrians does not apply to that workplace. Similarly, there is no employment quota for Syrians who are employed to work in humanitarian assistance activities at associations that work for the public weal, and foundations which are exempt from tax. Syrians who are healthcare professional and professional educators are allowed to work in the sectors provided that they obtain a "preliminary permit" from the Health Ministry, or from the National Education Ministry and the Council of Higher Education.
