THE refugee camp on the outskirts of Kahramanmaras, in Turkey’s south, glows as brightly as the local officials singing its praises. The air-conditioned container-unit houses, home to 24,000 displaced Syrians and Iraqis, are spotless. Each unit comes with a kitchen, a bedroom, a television and a laundry machine. The camp also boasts a school, a hospital and a supermarket. “We have all that we need,” says Muhammad Darwish, cradling his baby niece, Hiyam, one of over 240,000 refugee children born on Turkish soil since 2011. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, surveys the scene from a huge banner near the camp’s entrance, his image next to that of a distraught child. “It is a matter of conscience,” reads the caption.
To the people of the surrounding villages, it is also a matter of controversy. The camp’s residents are all Sunnis. The village locals are Alevis, members of Turkey’s biggest religious minority and distant cousins of the Alawites, the sect that forms the...Continue reading
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