Türkiye says people from Turkmenistan and Russia are the two largest groups of foreigners living in the country as they seek better living conditions, Current Time reported.
According to a report from the Migration Directorate of Türkiye, among the 1.1 million foreign nationals residing in the country with residence permits, 109,000 are Turkmens and 100,000 are Russian citizens. Iraqi nationals place third on the list at 90,000, while citizens of Iran and Syria each reached 79,000, the report added.
Turkmen citizens have been leaving their country for Türkiye en masse for years, due to dramatic economic hardships in the Central Asian nation and the authoritarian rule of President Serdar Berdymukhammedov.
In 2022, trying to stop the exodus of their citizens to Türkiye, Turkmen authorities asked Ankara to cancel the visa-free regime for Turkmen nationals, which Turkish authorities did in September that year.
The reports say that among the 10 largest groups of foreigners living in Türkiye with residence permits are citizens of Azerbaijan (68,000), Uzbekistan (52,000), Kazakhstan (43,000), Afghanistan (41,000), and Ukraine (37,000). The three most popular Turkish cities among foreigners are Istanbul (almost 555,000), Antalya (more than 116,000), and Ankara (more than 71,000), the report said.
