Turkey reports over a million foreigners granted residence permits, Iraq ranks third

People walk along Galata bridge near Turkish amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu L400, background, anchored in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, May 29, 2023. Erdogan has won reelection in a runoff Sunday, following a nail-biter first round two weeks earlier. Photo: AP

The Turkish Immigration Agency recently released statistics showing that over 1.125 million foreigners have been given residence permits in Turkey as of May.

Among these, Turkmenistan leads the list with 112,000 residence permits, followed by Russia with 96,000.

Iraqis and Iranians hold the third and fourth positions, with 86,000 and 81,000 residence permits respectively.

Citizens from Syria, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, and Ukraine follow suit in terms of the number of permits granted.

The cities with the highest number of foreigners with residence permits are Istanbul, Antalya, Ankara, Bursa, Mersin, and Izmir.