By Muhammet Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA): More than 400,000 Syrian babies have been born in Turkey since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, said an official from Turkey’s Interior Ministry.

“The population of Syrians in Turkey is a young one, as [only] around 100,000 among 3.6 million Syrians in Turkey are older than 60,” said Abdullah Ayaz, who heads the ministry’s migration management department.

“Since the start of the crisis, more than 415,000 Syrian babies have been born in Turkey,” Ayaz told a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) in Turkey’s capital Ankara.

The two-day meeting will last through Thursday at the Turkish parliament.

Turkey hosts more Syrians than any other country in the world.

Ayaz said that Turkish officials are continuing work to make sure all Syrian children get an education.

He added that since 2011, Turkey has barred more than 74,000 foreigners from entering the country.

Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011, the start of the Syrian civil war.

Over 265,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.

According to UN figures, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes in opposition-held areas.

[Archive photo: Syrian refugees sleeping rough Tem motorway in Istabul going to Edrine bordering Greece and Bulgaria on 21 September 2015. Photographer: Isa Terli/AA]