More than 31,500 Ukrainian citizens officially reside in Turkey

This was stated by Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in Turkey eksii Chernyshev in a comment to Ukrinform.

“According to the Migration Service of Turkey, as of January 1 this year, there are 31,583 Ukrainian citizens who have a residence permit in the country. Of these, 20,543 have short-term residence permits, 6,469 are registered through family reunification, and 4,571 have other types of residence permits (work, student, etc.). The places of the most numerous residence of our citizens in Turkey are Istanbul, Antalya, Mersin, Elazig, Izmir, Ankara and Eskisehir,” said eksii Chernyshev.

Currently, there are seven Honorary Consuls of Ukraine in Turkey – in Alanya, Adana, Kutahya, Dalaman, Bursa, Canakkale and Tekirdag. Their work is coordinated by the Embassy in Ankara, the Consulate General in Istanbul, and the Consulate in Antalya.

Currently, there are more than 20 officially registered Ukrainian diaspora organizations in Turkey.

“Active work in this area allows us to considate the Ukrainian community abroad and effectively help our country counter Russian aggression. In December last year, together with our partners, we held a Congress of Ukrainian community centers in Turkey, where we elected representatives to represent the voice of Ukrainians in Turkey at the events of the global Ukrainian community. Today, the work with the diaspora is coordinated not only by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, but also by the newly created Ministry of National Unity,” emphasized eksii Chernyshev.

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According to the Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in Turkey, 56 events were held last year in coeration with the Embassy of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Union in Ankara. These included rallies, exhibitions, film festivals, book presentations, fairs, meetings with famous Ukrainians, celebrations of public and religious hidays, and memorable dates in the history of Ukraine. Other diplomatic missions also actively coerate with communities.

As reported by Ukrinform, in the first year of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, approximately 850,000 Ukrainians crossed the border into Turkey, but not all of them were refugees and not all intended to stay in Turkey.