Some 15,907 Syrians have taken refuge in Turkey since the start of the uprising in mid-March, while nearly half of them -- 7,890 people -- have returned, according to a statement posted on the website of the Turkish Prime Ministry's Disaster Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).
A group of 196 Syrians voluntarily returned on July 24-25, while 49 Syrians arrived in Turkey on the same days, according to the AFAD's data. The refugees are living in tent cities set up across the border province of Hatay. Some 64 Syrians have received medical treatment in Turkish hospitals.
Syrian authorities unleashed a brutal crackdown in an effort to put down a four-month-old uprising, and activists say more than 1,600 people have been killed since mid-March. The government blames the unrest on terrorists and foreign extremists, not true reform seekers.
On Monday, the Syrian Cabinet approved a law that allows for the formation of political parties other than the ruling Baath party in a major step to address protesters' demands.
