Suruc refugee camp

Suruc is a symbol.

The largest refugee camp in Turkey, in a nation which hosts the largest number of refugees in the world, Suruc is a gleaming, orderly metaphor for Turkey's open door policy toward refugees from Syria, nearly 2 million of whom have crossed the border in the past four years.

The camp holds 25,000 people in 7,000 tents split into 15 "neighborhoods," according to Abdullah Ciftci, Suruc's district governor. It has schools, hospitals, supermarkets, television tents, prayer rooms, playgrounds and even farmland.

Opened in February 2015, the camp's large pale tents — set against the bright stony white ground — are an immaculate showcase of Turkey's generosity at a time when other European nations talk of building walls, destroying boats, and migrant quotas.

Refugees keep flooding into Turkey as the fighting in Syria continues, but Suruc has room to grow. Ciftci said the camp, which is dominated by a giant Turkish flag, can accommodate another 10,000 people.

The Associated Press spent a day in Suruc taking photographs ahead of June 20, World Refugee Day. 

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugee Sabah Nahsan, 27, holds her three-day-old son that was born at the refugee camp where the family stays in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, cries, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugees pose for a photograph at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

A Syrian refugee child poses for the photographer holding a copy of the Quran, Islam's holy book, at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugees wander around a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

A Syrian refugee walks at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugees walk at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Twenty-day-old Hevan Muslim, that was born from Syrian refugees parents at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, cries, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

A photo shows a Syrian refugee child's school reports, some from a school in Syria, when was studying there, one with a picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad, centre, and the current one, top left, with a picture of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, from the school at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugee children wave and flash the V-sign at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian-Kurdish refugee Sidika Hemed, 52, holds pictures of her brother Abdullah Muhammed,centre and her sons Fevaz Kahraman 24, left, and Celal Kahraman, right, all killed by Islamic State group militants, as she sits on her tent at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. 'Everything is fine here. Turkish people and Turkey is good to us, but no where is like your own country', Hemed said. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugee children play at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Syrian refugees walk around a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

Members of a Syrian refugee family stand inside their tent a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

A Syrian refugee child plays at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Turkey Syria Refugees

A Syrian refugee child walks at a refugee camp in Suruc, on the Turkey-Syria border, Friday, June 19, 2015. Ahead of World Refugee Day on Saturday, June 20, 2015, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, estimated that a total of 11.6 million people from Syria had been displaced by the conflict by the end of last year, the largest such figure worldwide. Turkey is the world's biggest refugee host with 1.59 million refugees, according to the most recent U.N. figures. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

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Text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Suruc is the largest refugee camp in Turkey, by Raphael Satter. 

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