DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — In April 2011, Turkey’s Cilvegozu crossing on its border with Syria suddenly became inundated with throngs of people massing there, trying to escape the one-month-old Syrian civil war. More than 250 Syrians were in the first group to be given refuge in Turkey, marking the beginning of Turkey’s involvement in the war.
Those first immigrants were soon followed by myriad others who grew into a community of almost 4 million people. These immigrants have become a major concern for Turkey over the past seven years.