Discussions about granting citizenship to Syrian refugees, a decision which the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on the 2nd of July, continued yesterday. The Minister of Interior Efkan Ala announced that Turkey will speed up the process to grant Turkish citizenship to Syrian families who will benefit Turkey and Syria.

Ala added on Tuesday evening that the Turkish Interior Ministry will examine citizenship applications case by case. Syrians applying should not have a criminal record or be involved in crime, and should not pose a threat to the security of Turkey.

He stressed, however, that the Turkish Interior Ministry will pay special attention to the issue of integrating Syrians wishing to obtain Turkish citizenship into Turkish society, and pointed out that Turkey wants to benefit from the expertise and experience of these people and prevent their departure to other countries.

The Deputy Prime Minister and government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus announced at a press conference on Monday that the Turkish Interior Ministry is interested in examining the issue of granting citizenship to Syrians because many Syrian refugees are professionals and are highly skilled and qualified.

Kurtulmus also pointed out that the Ministry of Interior is still working to determine the criteria for granting Turkish citizenship to qualified Syrian refugees, and that a thorough study on the conditions that the Syrians applying for citizenship must meet is being carried out.