What’s the Future of Syrian Refugees in Turkey?

Turkish government and opposition parties need to work together to prevent the deepening of anti-immigrant talk and xenophobic Turkish nationalism.

ISTANBUL — Walid Zeidan, a 37-year-old Syrian man, works as a cook in the bustling Malta Bazaar in the Fatih district adjacent to the Golden Horn in Istanbul. Mr. Zeidan, who ran a restaurant in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, lost his home and business in a bombing by the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. After surviving the August 2013 sarin gas attack on Eastern Ghouta, which killed hundreds, he sought refuge in Turkey.

Syria offers no hope for a safe and dignified return, and Mr. Zeidan hopes he and his family can continue working and living in Istanbul. His three children speak Turkish and study at a local school. “They don’t remember Syria anymore,” he said.

Of the nearly 3.6 million Syrians in Turkey, only about 100,000 live in camps close to the Turkish-Syrian border, the majority in Turkish cities and towns. Around half a million live in Istanbul.

But the Turkish economy is struggling and the unemployment rate stands at 13 percent. Turks in socially and economically-stressed districts increasingly believe that the refugees are competing for their jobs and that the government grants them more privileges. A recent survey by Kadir Has University in Istanbul found that 67.7 percent of the participants were “not content with the presence of Syrian refugees” in Turkey.