Istanbul extends "deportation of Syrians" deadline

Shafaq News/ Interior Minister of Turkey , Suleyman Soylu announced that Turkey has extended the deadline for Syrian refugees who are not registered in Istanbul to leave the city until October 30 or they will face forced deportation.

The governor of Istanbul said last month that Syrians registered in other provinces should return to those provinces by August 20.

The number of Syrians in Istanbul has increased dramatically, reaching more than half a million as Istanbul is Turkey's largest city with a population of about 15 million.

In a televised interview with Khabar Turk TV station late on Tuesday, Souilo said the deadline had been extended until October 30 and that those leaving Istanbul would be allowed to be resettled and registered in any other region, except for the southern province of Antalya as it will not receive more Syrian immigrants.

The minister said that students and their families, as well as those who have officially registered jobs in Istanbul, will be exempted from resettlement.

More than 3 million Syrians are reported to have been in Turkey since the country's eight-year war.

Soilo said a total of 347,000 Syrians have returned home so far. He added that Turkey had identified places "outside its borders" to host a possible wave of migration from the Syrian province of Idlib