Türkiye Announces Voluntary Return of More than 1 Million Syrian Refugees

A Syrian refugee camp in the countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria (DPA)
A Syrian refugee camp in the countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria (DPA)
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Türkiye Announces Voluntary Return of More than 1 Million Syrian Refugees

A Syrian refugee camp in the countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria (DPA)
A Syrian refugee camp in the countryside of Aleppo, northern Syria (DPA)

Ankara on Friday revealed that more than one million Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country, but Turkish authorities continue to deport Syrians who have not submitted all their documents for residency permits.

On Friday, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement that more than one million Syrians have voluntarily returned to the cleared areas in northern Syria, including more than 470,000 who have returned to the Idlib region alone.

On the other hand, Syrian activists revealed that Turkish authorities deported on Thursday six Syrian families through the Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) border crossing north of Hasakah Governorate in northeast Syria.

The deportations of Syrians from Türkiye increased after the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 28. Since, Ankara authorities have become strict about residency conditions.

About 450 Syrians have been forcibly deported from Türkiye to Syria through Bab Al-Salama crossing in the last two weeks.

Separately, the Defense Ministry said Türkiye has carried out 320 operations and “neutralized” a total of 794 “terrorists” since Jan. 1.

Turkish forces are constantly launching operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, and are also targeting Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) sites in northern Syria, considered by Ankara as a proxy for the PKK and as the main Kurdish armed group in Syria.



Lebanese PM Slams Int’l Community’s ‘Silence over Israeli Crimes’

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)
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Lebanese PM Slams Int’l Community’s ‘Silence over Israeli Crimes’

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson in Beirut. (Government office)

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati slammed on Monday the international community’s “silence over Israel’s crimes and destruction” in his country.

“The international community is complicit in these crimes when countries that champion humanity and human rights should be applying maximum pressure on Israel to make it stop its assault,” he added during meetings held with the ambassadors of the five permanent member states of the United Nations Security Council.

Mikati handed the ambassadors a report by the Health Ministry detailing the damage incurred by the sector from the Israeli raids.

He noted the threats to “priceless cultural heritage” in the cities of Tyre and Baalbek as a result of Israel’s attacks.

Moreover, he reiterated his government’s commitment to Security Council resolution 1701 and its determination to deploy the army in the South.

“It has welcomed every call for a ceasefire, while the Israeli enemy has turned against all proposed solutions and forged ahead in committing war crimes against Lebanon, even reaching its historic sites. These attacks are additional crimes against humanity that should be confronted and stopped,” he urged.

The PM underscored the need for pressure to end the assault to pave the way for talks over how to implement resolution 1701.

Furthermore, he said the government had approved during a recent meeting increasing the presence of army in the South and recruiting more troops. In its next meeting, the ministers will discuss the executive steps to support the recruitment of 1,500 soldiers.

Mikati met with US Ambassador to Lebanon Lisa Johnson, UK Chargé D'Affaires Victoria Dunne, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Aleksandr Rudakov, China’s Ambassador Qian Minjian, French Ambassador Herve Magro, and Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze.