Crossing the border barefoot, in old cars or simply with rucksacks on their back, Syrian refugees have been fleeing to Turkey for the last three years, since the Syrian uprising that began as peaceful protests for democracy and freedom turned into a savage civil war killing thousands.

According to the reports issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 613,000 Syrian refugees are officially residing in Turkey.

Turkey's refugee camps host approximately 200,000 of those refugees and the number of those living outside of the camps is around 300,000. The official registration showed that there are still refugees who are not registered or officially accommodated.

In line with the increasing number of refugees, Turkey has been continuously developing its facilities and services to provide better living conditions to them. The refugee camps in Turkey are far better in comparison to the other countries the refugees fled.

The U.N. observers at the camps said the level of assistance provided in these camps exceeded the international standards. There is no smell of garbage, rampant overcrowding or disease.

Instead, the camps have sound infrastructure, X-ray devices at the entrance, education centers, and playgrounds offering refugees the best such accommodation in the region.

Provincial governments together with local nongovernmental organizations are meeting the needs of UNHCR-recognized refugees by providing access to healthcare and education, and protecting the displaced Syrians that have not yet registered.

While Turkey mostly addressed issues related to refugee camps and provides comprehensive facilities to those living at the camps, there remains a registration problem because of the continuous flight from Syria.

The Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), in cooperation with the UNHCR, takes steps to register the refugees in Turkey. Mobile coordination center trailers manufactured by AFAD and UNCHR are expected to visit Turkish cities to register the Syrian refugees.

The Turkish government is striving to meet the humanitarian needs of displaced Syrians and has already exhausted more than $2 billion on humanitarian assistance, the construction of facilities and the administration process of its 21 refugee camps. Turkey provides identification, registration and free services, include food and shelter for the refugees.

Praising Turkey for its human rights practices in 2013, the U.S. Department of State on Thursday noted that as of November, the country provided temporary protected status and assistance to an estimated 600,000 Syrian citizens, approximately 200,000 of whom were in camps in Turkey along the Syrian border.

Turkey's recent economic and political stability gave Turkey the opportunity to open its borders to Syrian refugees. What is more, its strengthened bilateral ties and stable policies during the crisis prevented the effects of Syrian war from permeating the border. While the war still continues in Syria, just 100 meters away from the border, displaced Syrians live securely in Turkish refugee camps.

The Syrian civil war allowed Turkey to address its shortcomings following the 1988 chemical attacks in Halabja, Iraq. Turkey was hobbled with economic and political instabilities while hosting approximately 60,000 Iraqi refugees during the four years after the end of Iraq-Iran war and Halabja attacks.

When compared to the conditions in today's Syrian refugee camps, the Iraqi refugees were residing in poor conditions and not considered official refugees. The Iraqi children were not educated during their stay, and the displaced had no access to electricity or tap water.

During the Gulf War in 1990 to 1991, nearly 1.5 million Iraqis afraid of a Kurdish uprising fled to Turkey's border with a hope to flee possible atrocities. The only thing they found on the border was closed gates.

Turkey was unable to accommodate them and refused to accept those refugees. Nearly 450,000 Iraqi Kurds unofficially crossed the Turkish border and set roots in rural areas. Turkey was caught unprepared with its 20,000 tents available to accommodate Iraqi refugees.

According to the data in the beginning of 2002, the official number of Iraqi refugees in Turkey was around 590, because majority of the refugees did not register out of fear of being sent back.