The fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria is being viewed as an opportunity by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to return millions of Syrian refugees amid growing public resentment. However, it remains uncertain whether those who have built new lives in cities like Istanbul are prepared to return.
Syrian refugee Hasan Sallouraoglu and his family have carved out a new life in Istanbul with a thriving pastry shop in Istanbul's Sultanbeyli district, home to around 60,000 Syrians.
With Assad gone, the question of whether to return to Syria now looms. "It's been 10 years, and my shop has been open for the last eight years. We can start a shop there in Syria, too," explained Sallouraoglu.
However, Sallouraoglu, with an ironic smile, acknowledges returning to Syria is a hard sell for his family. "There is not much excitement in my family. We see the news and we see that our country is completely destroyed on the ground. Ninety percent of it has been destroyed, so we need time to think," said Sallouraoglu.
Across the road from Sallouraoglu's pastry shop, the owner of a clothes shop, Emel Denyal, is considering returning to her home in Aleppo but says such a move could mean breaking up her family.
Nostalgia
"We are all thinking about returning. But the children aren't interested. They love being here. They want to stay here," said Denyal.
'We still feel nostalgic for our land. We are still missing Syria because we were raised in Syria," added Denyal, "The Syrian generation growing up in Turkey doesn't think about going back. The elderly and my husband are considering returning, but my children aren't. Can we find a solution?"
Since Assad fled Syria, Turkish authorities claim about 35,000 Syrians out of the nearly four million living in Turkey have gone home.
The Refugee Association in Sutlanebeyli provides assistance to some of Istanbul's 600,000 Syrian refugees. Social welfare director Kadri Gungorur says the initial euphoria over Assad's ousting is making way to a more pragmatic outlook.
"The desire to return was very strong in the first stage but has turned into this: 'Yes, we will return, but there is no infrastructure, no education system, and no hospitals,' said Gungorur.
Gungorur says with only 12 families from Sultanbeyli returning to their homes, he worries about the consequences if Syrians don't return in large numbers. "If the Syrians do not return, the general public may react to the Syrians because now they will say that 'Syria is safe. Why don't you return?'"
Over the past year, Turkish cities, including Istanbul, have witnessed outbreaks of violence against Syrians amid growing public hostility towards refugees.
Turkish authorities have removed Arabic from shop signs in a move aimed at quelling growing resentment made worse by an ailing economy.
Concerns for women
Turkish presidential adviser Mesut Casin of Istanbul's Yeditepe University claims the government is aware of the Turkish public's concern.
"We all saw the civil war in Syria. Four million immigrant people in Turkey and that has brought a lot of problems in Turkey ...even criminal actions. There's also the problem of border security. Turkish public opinion is opposed to the Syrian people today," said Casin.
Erdogan is promising to facilitate the quick return of Syrian refugees. However, such aspirations could well be dependent on the behaviour of Syria's new rulers,
"The Syrians you have in Turkey are mostly women and children. So it has to be a government and administration friendly to women and children, specifically women," says analyst Sezin Oney of the independent Turkish news portal Medyascope.
"But we don't know with these, Islamist, jihadist groups. Will they be really friendly towards these othe groups? So I don't see the return of the Syrians who are in Turkey, really," added Oney.
Erdogan is pledging that the return of the Syrians will be voluntary. However, analysts suggest more decisive action may be necessary, as the Turkish leader knows if the refugees do not return home quickly, it could have political consequences.
