Turkey denies prohibiting visitors to Syrian camps

Commenting on an article published by The New York Times, which stated Turkey “has recently made those camps harder to visit: permission was not granted to two reporters in the vicinity for five days last week,” a spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said such allegations did not reflect reality.

“Entry into the camps continue smoothly within the framework of the rules specified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the [Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate] AFAD and other relevant institutions,” spokesperson Selçuk Ünal said on Friday.

Ünal stated that Turkish and foreign journalists had entered the camps in accordance with official procedures, adding that 254 entries by journalists have been recorded in the past year. According to data provided by AFAD, 29,441 Syrians are currently staying in a total of 10 camps in Turkey's south.