Syrians refugees in Turkey on Sunday celebrated the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, with crowds gathering in front of Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque waving opposition flags.
Celebrations were also seen in the southern city of Gaziantep near the border with Syria, media reports said.
According to UN figures, Turkey has taken in around 3 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country. Most of them are reported to have come from Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city.
Many Syrian children have been born in Turkey since the start of the civil war in 2011 and have never seen their homeland, while around 240,000 Syrians have taken Turkish citizenship, according to Interior Ministry figures.
Acceptance of Syrian refugees by the domestic population has declined over recent years, placing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan under pressure. Erdoğan has said he aims to repatriate at least some of them.
Syrians living in Turkey pose with their flags, after Syrian rebels announced that they have ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Tolga Uluturk/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
