ISTANBUL, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- A total of 414,061 Syrian refugees have so far voluntarily returned to their hometowns from Turkey, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Thursday.
Speaking at an event in the northwestern province of Balikesir, Soylu noted that Turkey enabled the safe return of these refugees by contributing to the normalization of life there and building stability in the region.
"Thanks to the security provided by our cross-border operations, 414,061 Syrians have voluntarily returned to their country so far," he said.
Turkey has been hosting more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees in its territory since the start of the civil war in neighboring Syria in 2011. Enditem
