Türkiye is home to 3.63 million foreign nationals with legal residence status, including more than 2.26 million Syrians under temporary protection, Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said Thursday as he outlined the government's migration and border security policies.
In a statement following a parliamentary consultation meeting attended by lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Çiftçi said 3,632,064 foreign nationals currently have legal status in Türkiye.
Of those, 2,264,983 are Syrians living under temporary protection, he said.
The minister added that 1.425 million Syrians returned to their homeland voluntarily, safely and with dignity between 2016 and 2026.
Türkiye has hosted the world's largest refugee population since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, while authorities have increasingly emphasized voluntary returns as security conditions improve in parts of northern Syria.
Moreover, Çiftçi also underlined that the government continues to combat irregular migration and migrant smuggling through an integrated border security strategy covering land and maritime borders.
According to the minister, Türkiye has completed 1,329 kilometers (825 miles) of border security walls, while construction continues along another 110 kilometers.
He said border security is supported by electro-optical surveillance towers, thermal cameras, observation posts, surveillance vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles operating around the clock.
The Turkish coast guard, meanwhile, patrols the country's approximately 4,500-kilometer coastline with 323 maritime assets and 23 aircraft to strengthen coastal and border security, Çiftçi noted.
Çiftçi said the government would continue protecting Türkiye's borders, combating irregular migration, supporting disaster recovery efforts and providing humanitarian assistance under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
