ISTANBUL, Nov 15: Turkey has sent more than 6,000 Syrian migrants in Istanbul to temporary housing centers in other provinces since early July, the local governor’s office said on Friday, two weeks after a deadline for Syrians not registered in the city to leave.
Authorities had given Syrians not registered in Istanbul until Oct. 30 to move to another province or face forced removal from the city.
Turkey hosts more than 3.6 million Syrians, the largest population of Syrians displaced by an eight-year civil war. The number of Syrians in Istanbul, a city of some 15 million, has swelled to more than half a million.