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