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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Turkey Extends Deadline for Unregistered Syrians in Istanbul

Turkish police search participants before a demonstration for refugees human rights in Istanbul, Turkey 27 July 2019. EPA/SEDAT SUNA

A top Turkish official said Turkey has extended by two months a deadline for unregistered Syrian refugees in Istanbul to leave the city.

Earlier, that deadline had been set for Tuesday of this week, the Associated Press (AP).

Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said in an interview with Haberturk television late on Tuesday that the deadline has been extended until Oct. 30.

Istanbul insists it cannot accept any more Syrian refugees and demands they return to other areas of Turkey where they were initially registered, otherwise face deportation.

The city, Turkey's most populous, already hosts the largest number of registered Syrians, nearly 548,000, out of 3.6 million Syrian refugees who have found a home in Turkey.

According to AP, Soylu signalled that Syrians working or studying in Istanbul would be exempt from the deportation order.

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