Some 180,000 Syrians born in Turkey since war began

By Yesim Sert Karaaslan

ANKARA

Nearly 180,000 Syrians have entered the world in Turkey over the last five years.

According to Turkey's Health Ministry, a total of 177,568 Syrians mothers – refugees of the country’s bloody civil war – gave birth in Turkey between April 2011 and September 2016.

The country already has some 3 million Syrian refugees who fled the war, more than any other country in the world, and has spent $25 billion helping and sheltering them.

Among them, over 1 million are child refugees, making Turkey the top child refugee-hosting country in the world.

Such a responsibility includes not only providing them with accommodation but also offering them as well as education and other services.

Healthcare services are provided for free at eight field hospitals and 65 health centers at refugee camps.

Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since early when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests – which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings – with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.

Following a nationwide cease-fire brokered by Turkey and Russia, an upcoming meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan is aimed at promoting a political solution to the six-year war. Negotiations between government and opposition negotiators are due to begin there on Jan. 23.