Turkey appoints governor for Syrian refugees at borders

ISTANBUL

A general view of the Bab al-Salam refugee camp on the Syrian-Turkish border on January 1, 2013. Turkey, which supports the insurgency, is housing a total of some 150,000 Syrian refugees at camps near the border. AFP PHOTO

In an attempt to get organized the Turkish state has appointed a “coordinator governor” exclusively for Syrian refugees currently residing in the country, daily Hürriyet has reported.

Veysel Dalmaz, appointed to his new post in November 2012, will be responsible for the affairs of nearly 200,000 refugees who currently call Turkey their home.

Dalmaz's responsibilities include building new camps, ensuring proper nourishment and health arrangements for refugees and orchestrating the placements of refugees.

According to figures provided by the UNHCR, as of Dec. 18, Turkey had welcomed over 142,670 Syrians. The actual number is likely to be much higher since official figures do not include the tens of thousands of Syrians who are unregistered and living in Turkish homes.

A total of 13 tent cities have been established in Turkey, in addition to a container city in Kilis that is capable of hosting 12,000 refugees. There are five tent cities in Hatay, two in Şanlıurfa, three in Gaziantep and one each in Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye and Adıyaman.