Over 30,000 Syrians granted residence permit in Turkey

Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said Wednesday that 30,016 Syrians have been granted permit to live in his country, responding to a question asked by the opposition in the parliament. The government has granted one-year residence permit to Syrians who entered Turkey legally and filed application with local police authorities, except those in the southern cities of Hatay and Sirnak, the minister said. However, the permit does not entitle them to acquire Turkish citizenship, he added, replying to Turkish Nationalist Movement Party lawmaker Ozcan Yeniceri. Nearly a half million Syrian refugees are currently taking shelter in Turkey, according to the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate. As many as 200,091 Syrian refugees are living in 14 refugee camps in Turkey, while more than 290,000 others live outside the camps, the directorate said.