Turkey Could Send Refugees From Tent Camps Back to Syria If Safe Zone Created

The Turkish authorities could start resettlement of Syrian refugees from tent camps at the Turkish territory back to their country of origin, if a safe zone created, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — On August 24, Turkish forces, backed by US-led coalition aircraft, began a military operation dubbed Euphrates Shield to clear the Syrian border town of Jarabulus and the surrounding area of the Daesh terrorist group.

"Ankara expends its efforts to create a safety zone at the Syrian territory. If we succeed, then the residents of the tent camps could be resettled back to the Syrian land," Erdogan said Thursday, as quoted by the Turkish Anadolu news agency.

He added that during the military operation Turkey's forces had already cleared some 350 square miles of Syrian territory and the Syrians started to return to their homes.

Syria has been mired in civil war since March 2011, with government forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups, such as the Daesh, outlawed in many countries including Russia and the United States.

The crisis has caused a humanitarian disaster making millions of people flee their country and become refugees. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) there are about 4.8 million registered refugees from Syria, with more than 2.7 million of them are currently in Turkey.