Türkiye Won’t Allow New Syrian Refugee Influx after Quake, Says Minister

An aerial picture shows the hospital (R) in the town of Harem, near buildings destroyed by an earthquake and tents erected to house homeless residents, in Syria's opposition-held northwestern Idlib province on the border with Türkiye, on February 11, 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake. (AFP)

Türkiye will not allow a new influx of refugees from Syria after last week's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

"Claims that there is a new influx of refugees from Syria to Türkiye (after the earthquake) are not true. We will not allow that; it is out of question," Cavusoglu said at a news conference in Ankara.

Cavusoglu was commenting on claims that Syrians were flooding into Türkiye following last Monday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake which has killed more than 37,000 in the two countries.

Humanitarian aid to Syria's opposition-held areas is being delivered through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing, and Türkiye is ready to open two new border crossings from Kilis province after the earthquake, Cavusoglu said.

"All of these border crossings are for humanitarian aid. That does not mean that Syrians are coming to Türkiye through these crossings," he said.

"We are facilitating humanitarian aid for Syrians, but we are not allowing a new Syrian refugee influx. These are two separate issues," he said.