Syrian refugees hold on to life with locals’ help on Istanbul sidewalks
Syrians fleeing their countryâs conflict have found some respite in Istanbul, but many compatriots are not so lucky
Syrian families who have fled their country due to ongoing war have found shelter on Istanbul sidewalks and parks, clutching onto life with the help of locals, but others face harsher conditions elsewhere in Turkey.
Ragıp GümüÅpala Avenue in the cityâs Fatih district is one of the places in which many Syrian families live on the streets. Refugees, including many children, live in unhygienic conditions without a toilet, according to a July 17 report by the DoÄan News Agency.
Istanbul Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said July 15 that new measures were being considered to deal with the rising number of Syrians living on the streets of Istanbul, which may include sending them to camps in southeastern provinces even without their consent.
The whereabouts of Syrians in the city is under strict monitoring, he said, adding that their total official number was now 67,000.
Istanbul is not the only Turkish city where a large number of Syrian refugees now reside. From the southeastern provinces near the Syrian border to the western metropolis of Ä°zmir, over 1 million Syrians live in refugee camps or on the countryâs streets.
While many Turks, like those in Fatih, help the refugees as much as they can, negative reactions have recently become more widespread in other places where âSyrian beggars,â or the cheap labor force provided by the refugees, have irked locals.
Elsewhere in Turkey, the situation is even more complicated. In the southern province of Adana, a suburb called Mirzaçelebi is now known as âAleppoâ because of the...
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