Syrians mark the fifth year of a conflict that continues to ravage their country this month, while Turkey remains among the few countries extending a helping hand to the displaced with exemplary camps and humanitarian aid.
Tuesday was the fifth anniversary of a call by Syrian activists for nationwide protests against the Bashar Assad regime. Since then, street protests and a regime crackdown on protests evolved into an all-out conflict with new actors emerging, such as the terrorist organization, ISIS. Turkey, the country’s northern neighbor, was one of the first countries to open its doors to Syrians displaced by war and sever ties with the brutal Assad regime, which violently suppressed any opposition. Five years on, Turkey still remains the safest haven for refugees who streamed into the country with few possessions, little or no money and no place to call home. Though Lebanon and Jordan, Syria’s other neighbors, accepted the displaced, Turkey is lauded by the international community for offering the best accommodation standards to the refugees. Today, 2.7 million refugees from Syria live in Turkey, a figure that was unimaginable when the first group of 252 refugees quietly entered the country in 2011.
Turkey, although seasoned in hosting refugees as a transit country for migrants from Asia and the Middle East heading to Europe, was apparently unprepared when the exodus of the displaced from Syria started. Still, it managed to mobilize quickly, and tent camps established to host the early arrivals were rapidly upgraded to small neighborhoods with proper housing for refugees.
Turkey also hosts 152,000 children born to families who reside in Turkey after fleeing the conflict. Along with health, education and other basic services, refugees are offered what they yearned for in Syria: Democracy. Refugee camps have their own leaders elected among Syrian refugees, while technical work in the camps are undertaken by Turkish administrators. The camps also have Women’s Committees where Syrian women raise awareness among fellow women to thorny issues of polygamy and underage marriage.
