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Turkey


Country Statistics  
Latest IDP figure:
954,000 - 1,200,000
... Click here for more
Number of refugees:
(Originating from the country)
221,939 (UNHCR, June 2008)
Total Population:
73,19 million
26 July 2007

Progress on national IDP policy paves way for further reforms


Turkey_CountryPage_July07
IDPs in southeastern Turkey live
in tents next to their ruined village
(Photo: Ali Rizat Kutlu)
Turkey’s internally displaced people (IDPs) face uncertain prospects as a recent upsurge in violence in the south-eastern provinces threatens to undermine the positive impact of major human rights reforms which have been adopted since Turkey became a candidate for EU membership in 1999. Clashes between the Turkish army and Kurdish militants have raised fears of a return to the high levels of violence that led to the internal displacement of about one million people, most of them Kurds, at the height of the conflict in Turkey’s south-east in the 1980s and 1990s. The government declared “security zones” in pockets of the south-east in June 2007 and the Turkish armed forces have talked of the need for an incursion into northern Iraq to tackle Kurdish rebels amid mounting tensions on the Turkey-Iraq border.

However, in the last three years, the government has made strides to address the internal displacement situation. It has undertaken a national survey on the number and conditions of IDPs; drafted a national IDP strategy; adopted a law on compensation for property damages; and put together a comprehensive pilot plan of action for IDPs at the provincial level. The long-awaited results of the government-commissioned national IDP survey were released in December 2006, confirming that the number of IDPs in Turkey is significantly higher than the previous government estimate of 355,807.

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"Causes and Background","Background","Causes of displacement","Other causes of displacement"
"Population Figures and Profile","Global figures","Geographical Distribution"
"Patterns of Displacement","General"
"Physical Security & Freedom of Movement","Physical security","Women","Children and adolescents","Freedom of movement","Other concerns"
"Subsistence Needs","General","Health","Shelter"
"Access to Education","General"
"Issues of Self-Reliance and Public Participation","Self-reliance"
"Documentation Needs and Citizenship","Documentation needs"
"Issues of Family Unity, Identity and Culture","General","Culture"
"Property Issues","General","National Property Compensation Law","European Court of Human Rights"
"Patterns of Return and Resettlement","Return movements","Figures on Return","Policy","Return and resettlement programmes","Obstacles to return and resettlement"
"National and International Responses","National and international response","Legal framework and national policy","Policy and recommendations from international actors","Policy and Recommendations from european actors","Policy and Recommendations from Turkish civil soceity","References to the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement"

Previous Profile updates

News 
Turkish troops cross into Iraq: Iraqi officials, Reuters AlertNet, 18 December 2007
Turkish Planes Bomb PKK Targets in Iraq, The Guardian, 16 December 2007
More