Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that more than seven thousand Syrian people returned to their country within five days following the escape of the ousted president, Bashar al-Assad, on December 8th.

Yerlikaya explained that between December 9 and 13, a total of 7,621 Syrian individuals returned through border crossings with Turkey to Syria as part of a voluntary return process.

Days before al-Assad’s fall, the number of returnees was recorded in only hundreds on a daily basis, while the numbers began to rise into the thousands daily following al-Assad’s escape, according to the minister.

Earlier last week, the Interior Minister stated that the number of Syrians subject to the temporary protection system in Turkey is 2,936,000 individuals.

On December 10, the border crossings between Syria and Turkey announced new decisions to facilitate the return of Syrians to their country.

Most crossings are currently operating around the clock to ease the process of returning individuals to Syria, and returnees can bring their household furniture and transport it by car to the Syrian crossing.

For his part, the Turkish Interior Minister noted that the capacity for entry through border crossings has been increased from three thousand to a range between 15,000 and 20,000 individuals daily.

After the fall of al-Assad’s regime on December 8, noticeable congestion and crowding were observed at the Turkish border crossings with Syria due to the return of Syrians after years of refuge in Turkey.

Syrian opposition factions took control of the capital, Damascus, as regime forces withdrew from public institutions and streets, thus ending an era that lasted over five decades of Assad family rule.

Bashar ruled Syria for 24 years since July 2000, succeeding his father, Hafez al-Assad (1971-2000), and he and his family left the country secretly to their ally Russia, which announced granting them asylum for what it considered “humanitarian reasons”.

Border crossings between Syria and Turkey

There are several border crossings between Syria and Turkey, but not all of them allow the movement of individuals; currently, movement is limited to the Bab al-Hawa, Bab al-Salama, and Jarablus crossings.

The Bab al-Hawa crossing is the largest border crossing between Turkey and Syria and is important for the passage of humanitarian aid convoys into Syria. It connects Idlib province with Hatay province in Turkey and is managed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

In the Aleppo countryside, there are the Bab al-Salama, Jarablus, and al-Rai crossings, which are managed by the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), and there is also the Kassab crossing, which connects Hatay province to the town of Kassab in the Latakia countryside, but it is currently not operational.

Turkey also opened in 2019 the al-Hamam crossing, which connects its territory with Jindires in the Afrin countryside, managed by the factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA).