More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkey since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by Islamist-led HTS rebels, Turkey's interior minister said.
Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that erupted in 2011 and whose presence has been a problem for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.
"The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000," Ali Yerlikaya told the Anatolian News Agency.
Ankara has been in close contact with Syria's new leaders and is now focusing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, hoping the change of power in Damascus will allow many to return home.
Erlikaya said a migration office would be set up at the Turkish embassy and consulate in Damascus and Aleppo to keep records of returning Syrians.
Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus nearly a week after the overthrow of Assad by Ankara-backed forces and 12 years after closing the diplomatic post at the start of Syria's civil war.
Yerlikaya said one person from each family would be allowed to enter and exit three times from January 1 to July 2025 under regulations to be drawn up at Erdogan's direction.
Syrians returning to their country will be allowed to take their belongings and cars with them, he added. | BGNES
