Hulusi Akar, the Turkish Minister of Defense, said today that about 60,000 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country after the earthquake. On the sidelines of a tour he is conducting in the earthquake-affected areas in the southeast of the country, the Turkish Minister of Defense stressed that his country’s borders with Syria are controlled, and that there is no illegal movement. Akar also strongly condemned the attack on the Holy Qur’an and the Turkish flag in Denmark, and described the attack as "A hate crime is disgusting and unacceptable". On Friday, an extremist group burned the Turkish flag and the Holy Quran in front of the Ankara embassy in the Danish capital, Copenhagen. The number of Syrian refugees in Turkey is estimated at 3,500,000 people, and these refugees live in dozens of Turkish cities. A devastating earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria at the dawn of February 6, with a magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale, followed by another hours later with a magnitude of 7.6, then thousands of aftershocks, killing more than 50,000 people in Turkey, and 6,000 in Syria, according to the report. to the latest official report.
Turkish Defense Minister: About 60,000 Syrians returned to their country voluntarily after the earthquake
by Arab Desk
March 28, 2023

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Arab Desk
The Arab Desk leads The Eastern Herald's reporting on the Middle East and North Africa. The desk has covered the Gaza-Israel war since October 2023, the Iran-Israel war of 2025-2026, the fall of the Assad government in Syria, Hezbollah's political and military shifts in Lebanon, the war in Yemen, and the diplomatic realignment of the Gulf states under the Abraham Accords and the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement.
