The Turkish authorities are thinking about introducing a total check of Russians who “stumbled” on resorts, as well as Syrians and Afghans. Especially since there are already sad reasons for this. Among the recent high-profile events was the terrorist attack in Istanbul, the authors of which were foreigners. To keep under the hood of every visitor, a specially created for these purposes bureau of foreign affairs, which will unite the police and other services.
Recently, Turkey has received several waves of migration: citizens of Ukraine and Russia settled in the Mediterranean regions of the country, citizens of Syria and Afghanistan – in the northern and eastern ones. Some of them found themselves in a new country in a bad way. It is also about domestic aggression. For example, take the recent case in Kemer, when a Russian punched a public toilet operator, refusing to pay 2 lira. The man died as a result of the attack, details here.
Everyone will be counted and a personal case will be opened: the life of a foreigner must become transparent for the Turkish authorities
“In connection with everything that is happening in Alanya – a very multi-ethnic city where people of different religions, different cultures, different patterns of behavior gather, it was considered necessary to create a special office for foreigners, which would unite various services : and the police, and the Department for Foreigners, and the gendarmerie, municipalities, district elders, etc., which will deal with the control of foreigners living in our region — find out who they are, what they do, why they came to Turkey, whether they are legally present, what they live on… The Bureau should keep a clear record of foreign nationals to prevent accidents like the ones mentioned above. Yes, it is more like precautionary measures, but the local authorities believe that it is better to warn about possible events in advance,” explained an expat living in Turkey in her blog.
Earlier, Turkey had already taken a number of tough measures to curb the influx of people from abroad. Example:
- Entire areas for living and obtaining a residence permit have closed.
- Strengthened requirements for a residence permit.
- The investment entry threshold for obtaining citizenship (purchase of more expensive real estate) has been raised.
- The percentage of refusals in residence permits has increased.
- Introduced checks based on the place of residence, etc.
“For some reason, it seems to me that this will not be the end of the matter. Of course, we are all already counted here, but I am sure that soon we will be counted even stronger. And checks come regularly – so now we are waiting from day to day. Friends have already reported that two people came to them, an employee and a gendarme with a tablet, checked the residence permits of everyone who lives at the address,” the blogger said.
Surprisingly, the tragedy in Istanbul did not scare away tourists to Turkey. Tour operators do not record mass cancellations of holiday bookings. Probably one of the reasons for the calm behavior is the way the Turkish side itself reacts to tourists: visitors have noticed increased checks at passport control and customs inspection at airports.
“Representatives of the Turkish opposition correctly reprimanded the current authorities – it turned out that the woman who brought the explosive device to Istiklal had entered Turkey illegally from Syria,” the author added. However, in connection with this, a logical question arises: “How was this possible, if the authorities claim that the borders are strictly controlled?” Locals also noticed the gap in border controls: “They say that borders are an honor, and then they are not ashamed to tell us that the terrorist entered Turkey illegally. How did she manage to cross our borders?”