Syrians break into Regime's consulate in Istanbul

(Translation by Yusra Ahmed)

Many Syrians on Wednesday broke into the Syrian Consulate in Istanbul which forced the Turkish police to intervene and get them outside.

A source works inside the Syrian consulate explained to Zaman al-Wasl that people broke into the consulate after a young man angry for his long waiting to renew his passport (more than a month) had broken the order and enter the building without permission, but the guard who was Turkish and known of his bad treatment to customers stopped him and get took him inside, which provoked other attendees to enter the consulate to protect the young man, soon, the police attended and forced them to leave.

The source mentioned that it was not the first time of such incident to happen.
In regard to appointments, the source explained that Syrian Consulate keeps changing roles and regulations, the latest was on the 15th of this month, in which people were demanded to have an appointment over the phone in advance. But, according to the source, the employee responsible for appointment carelessly did not answer phones and people were not allowed to enter the consulate without a 9-digits reference number issued over the phone.

The source mentioned that only one employee is responsible for passports’ processing, and another one for documentation and attestation, while in the same time more than 300 people attend and wait outside the consulate daily.

In regard to difficulties people face to manage to enter the Syrian consulate and sort out their issues, the source mentioned that many of them needed to come many times and sleep in the next door mosque to be able to be first in queue and sometimes they were forced spend many nights in Istanbul especially when they come from other cities.

In regard to employees in the consulate, the same source mentioned that all employees, Syrians or Turks, intentionally humiliated Syrian people attending the Consulate except one young Turkish lady called Soha. Moreover, he mentioned that a Turkish agent facilitates to Syrians via his office procedures to get official papers and passports, and he shares money with the Consulate's employees, as the office’s fees are many folds the official fees.

Zaman Al Wasl-Istanbul