Turkey releases latest refugee data

ANKARA

Turkey’s interior minister on Wednesday said more than 3.5 million refugees were residing in Turkey, with the country spending $25 billion on supporting them.

Speaking at the newly established Migration Policy Board in Ankara, Suleyman Soylu said 3,551,078 refugees were currently being sheltered. Around 10 percent of this total was being supported in refugee camps, according to latest figures.

Turkey's "open door" policy for Syrian refugees has been in place since 2011, Soylu said.

The minister also said the country had deported more than 4,300 foreign nationals for alleged links to terrorist groups and had banned over 52,000 people from 145 nations since 2010 as part of measures against foreign terrorist fighters.

Soylu said Turkey's reaction to the refugee crisis had been rapid, noting that the migration policy pursued by Turkey was in line with international norms on the basis of human rights.

Reporting by Kemal Karadag; Writing by Ilker Girit