Despite some imposed restrictions, Turkey’s open door refugee policy has resulted in an explosion of refugees and immigrants over the past five months. In his address to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 20, 2016, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was hosting 2.7 million Syrians and 300,000 Iraqis.
On Feb. 15, Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu announced that the total number of refugees and immigrants has reached some 3.551 million.