Turkey hosting more than 2.5 million Syrians

ANKARA

More than 2.5 million Syrian refugees are currently living in Turkey, a senior minister said Thursday.

Yalcin Akdogan, one of Turkey’s deputy prime ministers, said around 2,541,000 refugees had undergone a biometric registration system and were living in Turkey.

Addressing parliament’s budget committee, he said that “as of today” $8 billion had been spent on Syrian refugees by Turkey.

The minister said the vast majority -- 2.3 million -- were living outside temporary accommodation centers established around Turkey. More than 67,000 Syrian children had been born in Turkey since the conflict in Syria ignited in 2011.