With no end in sight to the ongoing civil war in Syria, Syrians who have taken shelter in Turkey are having to adapt to their new lives here. For a number of Syrians yearning to cling to daily life, shops set up inside a refugee camp offer solace and a little money on the side. In the camp, made up of premade housing units, refugees run grocery stores, restaurants, cafes, and barbershops.

The camp in Altınözü, a district in the southern province of Hatay that sits on the border with Syria, is home to a small marketplace serving 8,063 refugees staying there. Adorned with Turkish flags, the marketplace has everything for residents looking to get a haircut, fix their cellphones, sample desserts or have their shoes repaired.

Shopkeepers are proud to serve fellow expatriates and earn a little income - amounting up to TL 50 a day - for their families.

Atif Saleh, who took shelter in Turkey six years ago when the conflict in Syria began, runs a barbershop. Saleh earns about TL 800 monthly, sufficient for his two children and wife. "I earn very little because people staying here do not have purchasing power but it does not matter. What matters is helping each other. We are grateful to Turkey for helping us," he told Anadolu Agency (AA).

Ibrahim Hajjar was a university student when the war broke out in Syria and took shelter in Turkey with his parents and four siblings. With the help of Turkish authorities, he now runs a cellphone shop where cheap devices are sold and faulty phones are repaired. "The business is good. I thank Turkey for helping us to open this shop. We have everything here, from a place to stay, to safety and peace," he said.

Aiman Dalhi was running a restaurant back home and about six years ago, he fled to Turkey for his safety. One month ago, he opened a new restaurant in the camp and is pleased with the booming business. "I have 12 employees here. All of them are refugees staying in the camp. Our revenues vary but we try to earn something for our families," he says.

Sahe Salaho managed to make it into Turkey from Syria's Idlib, which has been devastated by the ongoing war, about two and a half years ago. Like Dahli, he set up a new shop and works as a tailor serving refugees. Salaho says he plans to "expand it" as demand rises.

Turkey is hosting around 248,000 refugees in camps in its eastern and southeastern provinces of Hatay, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Mardin, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye, Adıyaman, Adana and Malatya.

The camps, run with the support of many institutions, have been transformed into modern living spaces with infrastructure, social spaces, healthcare facilities, and education services.

Turkey now hosts some 3 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. The country has spent around $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protests which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.