The Syrian Associations Platform in Turkey has expressed gratitude to the Turkish civil organizations and authorities in a press conference held in Istanbul on Thursday.

The platform director, Mohammed Adnan, thanked, on behalf of the 25 Syrian associations he represents, the Turkish official and non-official bodies for their help to Syrian refugees in various Turkish cities such as Hatay, Kilis, Mardin, Sanliurfa, Adana, Mersin, Konya and Istanbul.

"Many Syrian people were forced to seek refuge in Turkey while the world did not care about us, "Adnan said, offering his apology to all the Turkish people for the inconvenience that they may have suffered because of Syrian refugees.

The Syrian Associations Platform represents 25 Turkey-based Syrian associations and aims to enhance relations between Turkish and Syrian people and to improve the social life and civic awareness of the Syrian people in Turkey.

Syria has been gripped by violence since Bashar al-Assad's regime launched a violent crackdown in response to anti-government protests in March 2011, triggering a conflict that has left at least 210,000 people dead.

More than 3.8 million Syrian refugees are registered in neighboring Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq, according to the UN.