By Timur Kaymaz
and Omar Kadkoy
TEPAV - September 2016
Abstract:
Worldwide, as
of 2016, 65
million people have
been displaced from
their homes, the
highest level ever
recorded. Moreover, Turkey
is now home
to the largest refugee population
in the world. As of August 2016,
the number of registered Syrian
refugees (officially referred
to as Syrians
under Temporary Protection by
the relevant Turkish regulation, 2014/6883) is recorded
as 2,724,937. The
integration of Syrians
into the Turkish
economy has so
far been through human
interaction rather than
policy design. A
longterm, sustainable
framework of integration for
Syrian workers and entrepreneurs is
still missing as
we near the
fifth anniversary of the
refugee influx. However, recently,
the Turkish government’s policy
position on the
Syrian population has
gradually begun evolving
from one of
‘hospitality’ to one
of ‘integration’. In
this piece we
outline the current state of play
in terms of economic integration
and list potential
areas of intervention for
local, national and
international actors.
