Turkish parliament finds 345.000 Syrians have fled to Turkey since 2011

The Turkish Parliament's research center have estimated that 345,000 Syrians fled to Turkey since the civil war began in mid-2011 amid the increasing concerns on how to handle the exodus of Syrian refugees after the chemical attack in Syria on Aug. 21. As the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime and the possible international intervention in war-torn Syria have brought the Syrian refugee problem to the agenda of Syria's neighboring countries, the Turkish Parliament has prepared a detailed report on refugees. According to the report, 345,000 Syrian refugees have entered Turkish borders since the Syrian war began in mid-2011. While 144,000 of them returned to their homeland, 201,000 have continued to stay in different Turkish cities. Turkey also hosted 397 Syrians who were injured in the war in Syria and required medical or hospital care. The report estimated that the town with the most refugees is Sanliurfa's border town of Ceylanpinar. A total of 36,521 refugees have been staying in 4,500 tents in Ceylanpinar. There are also 29,292 Syrians who have been living in tents in Sanliurfa's Akcakale. The report also mentioned the situation of other refugees living in Turkey. According to data, 36,000 asylum seekers, 14,000 Iraqis, 9,000 Afghanis, 7,000 Iranians, 2,000 Somalians and 2,000 people from other countries have been taking shelter in Turkey. Most of these refugees range in age from 18 to 59, says the report. The report notes the number of refugees that Turkey has been hosting since 1960. While there were only 2,200 refugees in 1960 in Turkey, the number of refugees reached a peak in 1989 with 33,000 refugees. In 1972 and 1974, there were no refugees in Turkey. The report defines refugees as "people that flee from their homelands and cross international borders because of a violation of human rights." The report states that refugees are oppressed by violence and forced to look for refuge and peaceful conditions in another country. Highlighting that there is a refugee influx as a result of every serious conflict, such as civil wars, the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the report defined these incidents as a result of a totalitarian regime. According to the report, the first international engagement on refugees was signed in 1933 through the League of Nations. The report said the first refugee agreement was signed in 1951 with the establishment of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The report noted that the supplementary protocol in 1967 removed the restriction of geography and time and rearranged the status of refugees in a legally binding way.