İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu has accused government officials of a lack of transparency concerning the number of refugees in the country, saying they aren’t sharing the real figures with local authorities, including himself.
İmamoğlu on Wednesday argued in a statement to the press that the number of refugees living in İstanbul, which he had previously stated to be over 2 million and was disputed by the Interior Ministry, is actually accurate.
He showed the increased water consumption in İstanbul as proof of its rising refugee population.
He said the average water consumption per capita in İstanbul has increased from 180 cubic meters to 225 cubic meters.
“This doesn’t mean that our citizens are using more water. As I said before, it shows that nearly 2.5 million [refugees] live in İstanbul.”
Addressing Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, the mayor said local governments are not informed about the number of refugees in their cities although they provide municipal services to these people.
“[As local administrators], we are the ones who provide the water, we are the ones who provide the gas, we are the ones who collect the garbage [of these people]. However, we are also the ones who are not given a single piece of information about the [refugee population] and are not invited to any meetings held by governors on this issue,” he said.
İmamoğlu also said the public is confused and anxious about the issue, with some claiming there are up to 10 million refugees in the country.
Turkey’s Interior Ministry announced last week, contradicting a recent statement from İmamoğlu, that there are 1,087,017 foreigners in İstanbul, including 530,612 Syrians who have temporary protection and 3,252 foreigners who are under international protection.
The mayor had said there are nearly 2.5 million refugees in İstanbul, making up 17 to 18 percent of the city’s official population of 16 million.
“This is not right. It is unfair to both the refugees and to İstanbulites,” the mayor said, adding that the exact number of irregular migrants in Turkey is unknown.
The exact number of refugees in Turkey has long been a matter of debate, with critics of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) claiming that the number of refugees is much higher than the official figures.
They criticize the AKP government and its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for pursuing an open-door policy for refugees and allowing them into the country without any controls in place.
İmamoğlu, who was re-elected on March 31 and is seen as one of the strongest political rivals of Erdoğan, frequently criticizes Erdoğan and his AKP government for having triggered migration to Turkey, especially from Syria and Iraq, by interfering with the internal affairs of those countries in a way that contradicts Turkey’s view of foreign relations.
According to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) World Migration Report 2024, Turkey is the leading host country for refugees worldwide, with nearly 3.6 million seeking shelter, mainly from war-torn Syria.