Samar, a Syrian girl from Aleppo, had no idea her marriage to a rich Saudi man in Istanbul would only last one day. This 22-year-old had been longing for a more stable life, away from the atrocities of war. Her hope vanished when she realized she was a victim of a short-term marriage, arranged by her matchmaker, or khattaba, whom she met by chance, when she shared rooms with her and other single Syrian girls in Istanbul. The matchmaker sent Samar’s picture to the Saudi man who was 35 years her senior. He accepted. The wedding ceremony was held quickly, and just as abruptly, the marriage ended.

With a sad face, Samar tells how “a sheikh and two witnesses came over, and my so-called husband gave me 2000 dollars as dowry, then took me to an apartment he rented. The very next day, I woke up to a note saying the rent was paid for, and that he left and was not coming back. The landlady told me not to worry, ‘I’ll find you another husband if you want.”

“Girls’ Residence”

The famous al-Fatih neighbourhood, in the heart of Istanbul, is a business and trade center for Syrians. This is where the girls’ stories usually begin. Around here, they can find special rentals, known as “Girls’ Residence,” where the landlady often turns out to be a professional matchmaker. Most roommates are refugees, some entered Turkey illegally, others are struggling with some kind of social problem or other. There are divorcées, widows, as well as minors who came from Syria unaccompanied.

Their difficult financial situation makes these Syrian refugee girls vulnerable to exploitation by matchmakers and brokers who see in them a mere money-making opportunity, and who resort to swindling and theft to take advantage of them. 

Fatima Abdul-Aziz is the head of “Al-Kawakiby Women’s Organization in Mersin, Turkey,” which is concerned with Syrian refugee women’s affairs. She believes that “what most contributes to this phenomenon are the dissociation of family and social ties, poverty, and the seduction of what is often presented to these girls as a more comfortable and secure life.” 

On July 11, I was able to get a copy of an arrest warrant in the northwestern city of  Sakarya, issued against a Syrian female matchmaker, charged with facilitating prostitution, deception and fraud. A dispute between two men, one Saudi, the other Syrian, led to her arrest. In her deposition, the matchmaker admits to fraud, as she took money to arrange marriages, but denied prostitution charges.  

Numbers

According to a survey by the Directorate General of Migration Management, a subdivision of the Turkish Ministry of Interior, of the 4 million Syrian refugees in the country, around 1.4 million are female. 

United Nations puts at 1.2 million the number of Syrians working without a permit in Turkey. The majority accept much lower wages and more severe conditions than Turkish workers would.

Evrensel website published a study that found “most Syrians are living below the poverty line and working without social security. 50% are unemployment, and 13% have applied for financial aid.” The study was conducted by the Center for Social Policies, and took place in the provinces that host the largest numbers of Syrian refugees. 

While both official and NGO statistics on fraudulent marriages are lacking, and judging from the cases reviewed by the center, Abdul-Aziz asserts that “matchmaker” has become a pseudonym for a type of broker who provides Syrian refugee wives for Arab men in return for a commission, well aware that such marriages would not last long: “Lately, we have been receiving many legal inquiries into fraud, committed in the name of marrying Syrian refugees,” she adds.

Secrecy and Fear

Majd Tabba’, a lawyer who has examined several such cases in Turkey, thinks that the dearth of data is due to the fact that “victims of these widespread marriages tend to keep them a secret, for fear of social stigma and family rejection.”

A One-day Marriage

It was indeed difficult to meet women who fell victim to the matchmakers’ network. Many keep a low profile and refuse to talk about this sensitive topic. Those who did talk requested their names be withheld to protect their privacy. 

Samar, who came to Turkey two years ago, recalls that she was first introduced to Um-Rihab as the lady who offers free accommodation for Syrian female refugees, “just for the love of God,” as the landlady often told the girls who lived under her roof. “In the beginning, things seemed normal and Um-Rihab treated us well,” says Samar, “but then she collected our photos and copies of our documents, and claimed she was seeking funding from ‘charitable people’. Next, she began insinuating that I have a suitor, a rich man who would give me all I wanted. When I first refused, her attitude changed and she began to treat me badly. In the end, I had to accept.” 

How Does a “Marriage by Picture” Work?

The deal takes place on the matchmaker’s social media account, where she provides her name and phone number. The following steps are followed via texts or calls:

First step: the matchmaker asks the male postulant to choose a category, “single, divorced, or widowed.”

Second step: money is discussed.

Third step: The girls’ pictures are sent through Whatsapp, then erased immediately.

Fourth step: if an agreement is reached, a wedding date is set.

Marriage on Vacation

I sat down with Rihab, a 20-year-old who got married to a Saudi national, who then divorced her by phone. She realized the groom only wanted her for the duration of his holiday. She had fallen victim to a so-called “misyar marriage.” According to Islam Web, misyar is a type of marriage contract where the husband and wife are able to renounce some marital rights such as living together, the wife’s rights to housing and maintenance money and the husband’s right to homekeeping and access, the later usually relinquished in order to keep the marriage secret from his first wife and children. Unlike the marriage of mut’ah (pleasure,) misyar  has no time limit. If it does, the contract is actually considered null. 

In Asenuret neighborhood in Istanbul, Rihab says her matchmaker had asked her to keep the union a secret. “I wanted to get married and leave the girls’ residence. He stayed with me for only one week. We kept in touch for another month, after which he asked me to hand over the apartment to the landlord. He had only rented it for one month. Then he divorced me on the phone, said I was now free, and he had fulfilled all his financial obligations.” But Rihab did not receive any dowry, and the jewelry he gifted her turned out to be fake and worthless. She called the matchmaker to inquire: “Um-Hussein said she did not owe me anything, and the only thing she could do is find me another husband, also in secrecy. It was then obvious that the lady was marrying off girls and pocketing their dowry in addition to her fees. After that, she again offers them free residence, on the condition that they undergo hymen reconstruction surgery, so that she offers them up for marriage again as virgins. I refused to do that.” 

When I contacted Um-Rihab,  the matchmaker, she denied the whole story, and insisted on knowing the name of the girl in question, which of course, I could not reveal, to protect Rihab.  

A Journey In Search of a “Bride”

It does not take advanced research skills to get in touch with a matchmaker. Do a google search and you will find a large number of them operating on social media platforms where they post statistics of the promised  brides, including their age, height, weight, hair and eye color.

To know more about the nature of their job, I contacted Um-Qusai, another matchmaker in Istanbul, on WhatsApp, and posed as a postulant who is looking for a Syrian girl to marry. Um-Qusai gave me her offers in detail: “A virgin would cost you between $7,000 and $10,000, in addition to the jewelry, which would be part of “personal clothing.” Divorcées and widows range from $3,000 to $6,000.” What about her fees, I asked? “Brother,” she said, “I charge $1000. If that is okay with you, then I’ll immediately send you some pictures of what I have.” 

She sent me pictures of many girls, insisted the union ceremony be officiated by an imam or sheikh, not in court. Dowry and commission are to be paid ahead of the wedding. 

Ali has a friend in the Gulf who was seeking a wife and ended up falling for the matchmakers’ scheme. Ali was there and has seen it all: “Their network is not centralized. After the groom agrees to their terms and conditions, all those who helped him get married disappear on wedding night. They disconnect cell phones and abandon their apartments without leaving a trace.” 

A man hailing from a Gulf state is considered a catch. I perused many Whatsapp messages sent to Saudi men advertising Syrian girls in Turkey who “want to get married. All you need do is transfer money to the bride you choose to help her get ready. Then come and consummate the marriage in Turkey.” 

For years, Saudi authorities have been aware of this scheme. In 2016, the Saudi embassy in Istanbul issued a warning for its nationals to beware “suspects using fake documents and Syrian IDs in the Turkish cities near the Syrian border, who have been luring in marriage-seeking citizens, through ads on social media platforms. The citizens then come to Turkey only to realize they have been victims of swindling and fraud.” 

Defrauding Arabs and Turks

Sherif (30), an Egyptian citizen living in Istanbul, also has a similar story. The girl he was offered to marry turned out to be already married, so he lost both the mahr and other expenses, totalling $10,000. The “wife” escaped the next morning, after stealing his belongings. She took the marriage contract with her, as well. Sherif had no means to prove he was robbed. There was no evidence of fraud, because he neither knew the witnesses nor the sheikh who wrote the contract. The only thing remaining is the Whatsapp messages, but the number no longer exists, and it was never officially registered.  

These criminal rings  do not spare Turkish citizens either. Last month, Turkish media platforms were buzzing with the news of the arrest of a “Syrian gang ” in Kayseri Province, after security forces received a complaint that they “defrauded a 51-year-old Turkish man of 40,000 liras to marry a 20-year-old Syrian girl, who took the money and disappeared.” The ring consisted of the girl, her 41-year-old father, and her 29-year-old aunt. Interrogated in Hatay Province in the south, they confessed they had “committed the same scheme in 5 other Turkish cities, and earned more than 2 million liras”.

• Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code states the following:

1- Fraud is punishable by up to three years in prison. 

2- Foreign claimants must deposit 10% of the amount mentioned in the case. 

Source: The attorney, Majd Al-Tabba’

Girls in the Network

Deceit runs in both directions. There are internet matchmaking gangs who specifically prey on young Syrian men. The brides-to-be are gang members themselves. 

Searching for his dream girl, Muhammad (28) from Deir ez-Zur, ended up losing $8,000 to a gang. That money was all he had. “Suddenly everything was gone,” he says. 

It all started last year when Mohammad asked a matchmaker to find him a bride in return for a commission. When the bride was ready, Mohammad went to meet her. She was with her brother, matchmaker himself, and a local sheikh who came to wed the pair. After the wedding, the bride asked him to take her to an outdoor restaurant. 15 minutes into dinner, she went to the restrooms and that was the last time he saw her. She disappeared and her cell phone number was immediately disconnected.  

Forged Documents & Other Creative Methods

The matchmakers’ stratagems vary from one case to another. Some, for example, especially defraud old Arab men living in Istanbul, as Majd al-Tabba’ points out: “These are not simple fraud cases. These are organized mafia rings consisting of men and women with forged documents and fake IDs. And they change their plans according to the targeted victim.” Al-Tabba’ took up a case where a matchmaker, Um-Mohammad, conned $20, 000 out of a 54-year-old Saudi man, via a Facebook ad offering him a chance to have a second wife: “All the documents we checked, passports, IDs and lease contracts, were fake, and cell phone numbers were unregistered, which left the case pending the identification of the perpetrators.” 

Solutions

According to Fatima Abdul-Aziz, in order to curb this phenomenon “refugees should form communities in their asylum countries, to get to know each other and communicate. It is also important to hold awareness-raising seminars to educate women about their marriage and divorce rights, in order to prevent them from being exploited.” 

In the meanwhile, Samar and Rihab are working in a tailor shop. Marriage is now the last item on their priority lists. They doubt they will ever get married again. And al-Tabba’s 54-year-old client is still awaiting the Turkish court’s decision on his case. 

Published on DARAJ.

The Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ)

The post Marriage by Picture: Matchmakers Preying on Syrian Refugee Girls in Turkey appeared first on SIRAJ.

Before one year and a half, a local Turkish phone number called to the Syrian refugee, Jihad Rahal, the content of the calling was ambiguous for him, because he doesn’t know the Turkish language.

At the next day the same number called him again, with a ” weak” Arabic language, the caller told Jihad that he is an employer of the Immigration Department, and asked him to provide his documents for obtaining the Turkish nationality, at the first the young Syrian thought that it is just a”joke” from one of his friends .

At the next day Jihad went to the Immigration Department in Gaziantep city (southern of Turkey) to check it out, he asked employees who talking the Arabic language about the caller’s number and the content of demand , they asserted to him that the call is real and the phone number really belongs to the Immigration Department .

Jihad is a 28 years old youth, from Idlib countryside, holding a Syrian secondary school’s certificate, residing in Aleslahia camp, he says to the person who prepares the investigation, ” in spite of that I will lose the aid & housing at the camp, but surely I prefer obtaining the Turkish nationality to be able working legally or travel to another country for work, after I became a semi-prisoner here because I can’t move among Turkish cities, and if I left turkey I can’t return back “.

Jihad not the only one who nominates to obtain the Turkish nationality, the person who prepared this investigation has documented dozens of cases inside and outside the camp that really obtained the nationality and a lot of them do not have a university certificates, and this contradicts with the Turkish official narrative that the nationalization is targeting the Competencies Syrians only.

This reality makes the resident Syrian at Turkish lands in front of many questions, why they are nationalized? What the aim of that in the near and long term? How many persons of the Syrians were nationalized? And where is concentrated their biggest percentage? We are trying in this investigation answering of these questions and other during making interviews with the experts, politician and Syrians have obtained the Turkish nationality. “And others still waiting for their roles amid the absence of a clear & followed methodology, to choose the nominees, for the Turkish nationality from the resident Syrians in the Turkish lands”, as saying the experts and the persons who follow-up the matter.

For five months, the investigation detected providing documents of 360 Syrian for obtaining the Turkish nationality at Hatay state alone. And each of the Syrian governorates: Aleppo & Idlib which is taking the highest rates of nationalization, and the Turkish Gaziantep & Hatay governorates are occupied the first ranks among the Turkish cities which the Syrians were nationalized inside it, due to the intensive presence for Syrians south of the country.

The lawyer: Gazwan krunful, of the Free Syrian lawyers gathering, “None precisely knows the criteria, which is followed by the Turkish government for nationalization the Syrians? And who are the nominees for that? And there are doctors and academic persons in turkey since five years and most of them are waiting for nationalization but in vain, In spite of that the Turkish government said two years ago, that Syrian nationalization is targeted the competences “.

– Comparison between granting the Turkish nationality for Syrians & foreigners:

Exceptional nationality conditions for Syrians:

– A directly call from the Immigration Department to the nominee for nationalization (there aren’t any criteria).

– Recommendation of an official governmental party, or close to the government (political Syrian mostly).

The Turkish nationality conditions for foreigners:

– Real estate investment, in a value of $ 250 thousand dollars.

-Bank deposit, in a value of $ 500 thousand dollars.

– Work/labor residence for 5 years without exceeding the period in abroad of 6 months, with paying taxes during all of this period and learn the Turkish language fluently.

– Marriage of a Turkish girl, and the continuation and stability of marriage for 3 years at least.

– Ancestries and proving that by documents and Turkish courts.

– The persons who are providing great services, for Turkish state on the economic or industrial or scientific or cultural or arts or sports level.

A foothold

The absence of precise numbers creates a lot of questions about the numbers of nationalized Syrians refugees, by the Turkish opposition and the Syrian street itself, in the same time experts & analysts consider that the nationalization has a linked goal in creating influence to Turkey inside Syria in the future.

“There is an idea on the table that the goal of nationalizing Syrian is doing on the basis to create a foothold at Aleppo & Idlib regions, but I assert that the nationalizing operation is including the Syrians from the different Syrian governorates, not on regional basis, but maybe there is a far goal for the Turkish state, to create a human element to be a supporter of it at the regions close to the border (Turkish) “as referred by Krunful.

To verify the speech of experts & the persons who follow-up the Syrian nationalization case, the person who prepared this investigation has made an opinion poll at a random sample of Syrians, about the percentage of who obtained the Turkish nationality at the Syrian density’s cities in Turkey.

By asking the following question to measure levels of obtaining the nationality from Syrians, did you obtain the Turkish nationality or you submitted your documents to take it?

The results which were taken of fifty Syrians in Istanbul, Gaziantep, and Hatay, shown that 6 of 10 persons interacted with the opinion poll, obtained the nationality or submitted their documents in Istanbul. While this percentage increased in Gaziantep to 2 of 10 and 3 of 10 in Hatay state.

In another opinion poll included 90 Syrians were nationalized or submitted their documents recently at the same three cities, and the opinion poll’s question was, which is the Syrian city you are from?

The high percentage of nationalized people was from Aleppo and its countryside: 25.5%, Idlib: 23.3%, Damascus & Damascus countryside: 23.3%, latakia: 12.2%.

And in the absence of reliable numbers & accurate governmental statics, the nationalization operation still happened continuously in most of the Turkish states after its stopping for several months in some states.

In Gaziantep at south , the local Turkish television “Mega ” published a news on the last 30 November , about that the Immigration Department  at the city resumed the nationalization operation for Syrians irrespective of the qualifications or conditions, after its stopping before months for unknown reasons.

Abed Alrefai, from Damascus he is residing in Istanbul, on October 2018 he submitted a request for obtaining the nationality after a text message which was sent to the company accountant’s cell phone, which he is working in it, that he must go to the Immigration Department in Istanbul, and when we asked him about his opinion of why is Turkey nationalizes the Syrians?

“He has a labor residency since two years ago, and giving him the nationality based on that, and his opinion that the nationality to facilitate his work and to dispose of foreigners residency procedures”, As Alrefai said.

” The nationalized Syrians form a strategic depth for Turkey currently , after solving the conflict in Syria & returning back the Syrian refugees of who obtained the Turkish nationality” , as saying Mustafa Hamed Uglu , the head of the Syrian community in Istanbul .

As for Ayham Numaan (alias name), from Aleppo city, who was waiting his wife’s father to obtain the Turkish nationality to enable him obtains it by his wife, he doesn’t care about the reason of granting him the nationality, ” All what I want to dispose of difficulties of obtaining a Syrian passport’s and to dispose of the residency transactions & brokers and to obtain the right of owning house in Turkey”, as he is saying.

Naturally ,obtaining the Turkish nationality is considers a facilitation factor for residence in Turkey , so no needs to renew the Turkish residency and the Syrian passport, where the Syrian consulate in Istanbul is granting the Syrian citizens a passport valid for two years with a cost of $800 U.S, in addition, $ 350 a cost of the appointment & consulate fees, in another hand, the Turkish passport for 10 years costs $140 , and the ability to travel to 69 countries around the world with entrance visa .

-Distributing the nationalized persons, originally according to their Syrian cities as follows:

1.1 % Deir Azzor     1.1% Hama     2.2% Raqqa         4.4% Hasaka

6.6% Homs   25.5 Aleppo & Aleppo countryside        23.3 Idlib

23.3 % Damascus & Damascus countryside               12.2 latakia

0 % Tartous , Daraa & Swidaa

This opinion poll, which based on a sample of 90 Syrians have obtained the Turkish nationality recently in Istanbul, Hatay & Gaziantep.

The nationality is for scientific competencies!

In Turkish Hatay state (south), the investigation preparer documented nationalization & submitting documents of 360 Syrians, from end of April till end of November 2018, during monitoring comments of the nationalized persons , who submitted their documents through a group by (Whatsapp) application , regarding to the nationalized persons from Hatay or who were nominated for it.

“Here didn’t refuse any submitted request for obtaining the nationality” saying one of the Immigration Department’s employee.

Mahmoud Ghazal , residing at Hatay state which near to the Syrian border, from Latakia & Idlib side, he obtained the Turkish nationality in spite of that he did not has any Scientific & scholastic qualification or any private work and he is from Idlib , and currently he owns a small restaurant in “Rihania” city , and he is one of the middle-income persons .

“I am very happy by obtaining the Turkish nationality, and I don’t care about my Syrian passport, currently I am working as a Turkish, I can travel and I have secured the medical care for my children & their future, and the most important thing that I can buy a house, and I don’t intend to return back to Syria never “.

Ezz Eddin Alali, a pediatric doctor, and he have a work residency in Istanbul since two years, and no one called to him, for submitting to get the nationality, he is waiting that “eagerly” as he is saying.

Getting, “a Syrian passport & Turkish labor residency became very exhausted & cost matter”.

“We are Syrian’s competencies and the government said that it will nationalize the competencies, so where it is? Alali is asking.

This reality is contrary to the assurances of Turkish government officials in more than one occasion & declarations which reported by media, one of it a declaration of the last Turkish Prime Minister Yilderm – currently the president of the Perlman, that “granting the Turkish nationality will be only for competencies’ persons from Syrians “.

Mahmoud Alhalabi is another Syrian, he got the Turkish nationality two years ago, and he added an amendment on his family name (nickname), by adding (Uglu) word,

And He is of Turkmen descents, he submitted his documents for nationality, through known persons by him in the Directorate of Awqaf / Endowment, which has a paved way to nominates names of certain persons for nationality, his father a religion man and has relations with Directorate of Awqaf and he is speaking Turkish fluently.

As too Safi Alrefai from Damascus, holding a bachelor in Arabic language, before 5 months his refuge request to Canada was accepted, and when he decided to travel at the determined appointment they did not allow him, because his name included inside the nominees lists for nationality.

Thus he had to postpone his travel 15 days and he paid financial amounts until he becomes able through brokers, the governor’s known persons and Directorate of Immigration in Istanbul to remove his name from those lists to allow him to travel.

The Turkish states which the Syrians percentages are exceeding of 15 % of the total population:

Gaziantep: 20%           Orfa: 23%          Hatay: 28%        Kles: 91%

The criteria of nationalization are” absent”:

There are no fixed answers at the Immigration Department’s officials, after going the person who prepared this investigation to the central Immigration Department in Ankara, for asking about the required criteria for Syrians to get the nationality, about the receiving requests and giving appointments, “No fixed criteria, wait for call or a message in case you were nominated “. As the official said.

The situation doesn’t different in Istanbul, through asking the Civil Status Affairs’ director by the person who prepared the investigation at the city about the number of the nationalized Syrians, he refused to declare about any official numbers.

Before five years ago from now, and before the parliament & presidency elections, “30 thousands Syrians will vote at the parliament & presidency elections, after they have gotten the Turkish nationality” as said Binali Yildirm in a press statement reported by “Reuters”, and in consideration that the average of the Syrian family in turkey is 4 persons, so the number indicates to about 120 thousands nationalized person, and those rates were doubted by the Turkish opposition.

Through this reality, “Up to date, the numbers of nationalized Syrians do not exceed 50 thousand, and in consideration that everyone has a family of 3 persons, so we are in front of 200 thousand nationalized Syrians” as asserted by the lawyer Gazwan krunful.

“We do not know the hidden & the real number but certainly more & more than that” As Unal Chivek Oz, the deputy head of the opposed Republican People’s Party to the government.

Economic interdependence enhances the Turkish influence:

According to the Turkish Ministry of Interior, “Kels” the southern border city which considers the most Syrians presence inside it, and their percentage reaches 91% of the state’s population, and it is itself the state which inside it, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is unleashed the issue of granting the Syrians competencies & investors the Turkish nationality exceptionally, in July 2016.

According to the Directorate of Trade & Customs data in southern Anatolia, the amount of Turkey exports to both of “Dire Alfurat” and “Ghusin Alzaytun” areas are $ 560 million dollars, and these numbers indicate strongly indicating the economic interdependence between it and the nearby Turkish cities.

And that accompanied with giving the permission of the Turkish government to the Turkish cars, investors & Turkish traders for going to Dire Alfurat’s areas across Jarablus crossing and returning back when they want, according to the local people asserts, to the investigation’s preparer.

The nationality for political purposes!

In spite of the Turkish government’s asserts that it will not grant the nationality to all Syrians which their numbers reached 3.5 million Syrian, so the Turkish opposition is accusing of the government in demographic changing in order to win the voters votes in the future.

So Camille Okaye Sender , the general secretary for the Republican People Party and he is one of the most prominent Turkish opposition parties, he  considers in a press statement to a group of journalists during November of 2018 that nationalize the Syrians is “a cover to achieve political goals”.

And “Yani Akeet” the Turkish journal which reported on the previous deputy of the opposition Republican people party Omot Oran that: ” the Syrians during 10 years will form about 10 percent of the population and that will leave a social, cultural and political effect on Turkey “.

“The nationalization of Syrians is concentrated at the south of Turkey due to the high intensive population for Syrians at sates of Hatay –Mersin –Orfa –Gaziantep – Kahraman, and Aramch” as saying the lawyer Krunful.

The reality is saying that the number of Syrian in Istanbul is exceeding on the half million, and the nationalized persons’ percentage not high as the results of the questionnaire showed, which has made by the investigation’s preparer.

And that imposes many new questions about the reason for increasing the nationalization rates at the south Turkish cities.

“The intensive nationalization hypothesis at the south Turkish areas, not related in elections issues or increasing votes of Justice and Development Party at these areas”, as saying the lawyer Krunful.

And he negates that the goal of nationalization in these areas for housing the nationalized persons in these areas to make a demographic changing, the authority, as he said “don’t have the right to force the residence at a certain area on the citizen”.

And Ibrahim Egman from “Denise” Center for polls, the same opinion, he thinks that “The authority cannot force a certain residence at certain cities on the citizens, but any Turkish citizen doesn’t have the right in any elections happening in Turkey, to elect outside of his department (his domicile registration place), unless he transferred it to his new city, and this is not a difficult step and it can be applied in any time “.

3.5 Million Syrians in Turkey (Ministry of Turkish Interior)

According to these statistics, the Syrians in Turkey form 4.2% of the total population for the country which estimated in 83 million people according to the Turkish statistics institute (Turkestat).

The position of the Turkish opposition and the street

There are different opinions in the Turkish street between rejectionists and pro-nationalization for Syrians, for many for many considerations linked to Syrians’ competition in the labor market, and the acquisition of governmental financial aids.

“Today there are more than 300 thousand Syrians have submitted their requests and we refuse to nationalize all these numbers and we do not accept that, because the nationalization process is happening not according to clear foundations” as Tashfik Oz , the deputy head of The People Party is saying to the investigation’s preparer.

Miral Uwkushnar , the leader of “Aljayid “party which dissident of the nationalist      movement , which established at the end of 2017 , she said ” The nationalization of Syrians should be stopped and agree with Syrian government “.

Yagmur Neil Gul, a Turkish citizen is clarifying that:” we don’t find work opportunities to give the nationality to Syrians”, and Zaki Banar, a Turkish citizen sees that “If they will work and pay the taxes I don’t have any problem in their obtaining the nationality”.

And this refusal for the Syrians nationalization process can be understood from convictions of the Turkish street and the opposition that the Syrians are causing unemployment to the Turks, in exchange for huge financial assistance from the Turkish government for them, and this is the conclusion of the general opinion polls about the Turks’ sight to the Syrians refugees.

This has been made by the Turkish police academy on 24 November 2018, and which its results were published by the Turkish channel “TRT HABER”.

Is this a granting nationality or for making them as Turks?

The Syrians nationalization’s issue and its development Coincides with the closure of the Syrian schools which are teaching by Arabic language, and forcing the Syrians students to enter the Turkish schools or going to the highly expensive private schools, which most of Syrians cannot bear its cost.

So the risks of the blending & nationalization process are become the last nail  in belonging the majority of the newborn babies & children to their country, even if number of them are nationalized or from the new “Turks”.

While the process of Syrians’ nationalization in turkey is going on, and blending the Syrians students in the Turkish schools and follow-up their scientific achievement in the Turkish language, and closing horizon of the near returning to Syria, because of risks losing the life, the deterioration of the local economy and establishing of economical projects in Turkey.

the Process of Making the next generation” as Turks /Turkification”, with vigorous attempts to make the current generation from Turkey’s Syrians as Turks, seems to be going on, in its way to becoming in future as Syria’s Turks.

This investigative story was completed by Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism – (SIRAJ). Published on DARAJ

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