Syrians show refugees' economic potential in Turkey's borderlands

Ankara has spent more than $8.5 billion on feeding and housing Syrian refugees since the start of the war, but has yet to introduce a policy to allow them to work legally. 

Echoing concerns voiced in other countries about the flow of refugees, lower-income Turks fear that Syrians, including the estimated 250,000 now working illegally in Turkey, will undercut them and take their jobs. But data suggests Syrians may be a boost for the Turkish economy. 

According to TOBB, an umbrella body for local chambers of commerce, more than 1,000 companies were established in Turkey with at least one Syrian partner in the first seven months of 2015, compared with 30 in 2010, before the start of the war. 

Although there is no estimate yet of the increase in output from these firms, economists say they have boosted trade with Syria in parts of Turkey where instability and violence in border areas have dented trade with neighbors. 

"There has been a big jump in the numbers of businesses founded by Syrians probably because they are finally realizing they are likely to remain in Turkey for many more years," said Esra Özp?nar, a researcher from economic think tank TEPAV. 

In Gaziantep, new buildings have sprung up beside the city's medieval fortress and old market thanks to modern investments and economic incentives offered by the government which have helped it become an economic hub and the most industrialized city in Turkey's south. 

Sitting in the bare office above his factory where thousands of baby rattles and plastic bottles are cranked out every hour, Saad Chouihna believes that if you can make it in Turkey, you can make it anywhere. 

"The Turkish market is the hardest," said the 28-year-old Syrian from the city of...