Ankur Desai

More than half a million have now returned home from neighboring Turkey.

It took in more than anyone else, with the number of Syrians rising to 3.5 million at its peak, causing political tension and, on occasion, xenophobic attacks.

Syrians in Turkey have temporary protection, not refugee status, but President Erdogan has insisted no Syrian will ever be forced to leave.

The decision to return home or not is a complicated one, as our senior international correspondent Ola Geren reports from the Turkish border city of Gaziantep.

It's a cold, grey morning.

We're at the border, at a crossing into Syria.

I can see the hills of Syria just in front of me through the gates.

The people going through this border gate are going home to visit.

They have Turkish nationality, so they can come and go.

Can I ask you to tell me your name and how long you've been here in Turkey?

Do you think you will go back to live in Syria?

I'm standing by a stone wall in the shadow of an ancient castle which watches over Gaziantep.

I've come here to meet a 32-year-old Syrian woman, Aya Mustafa.

She fled here with her family from the Syrian city of Aleppo when she was just 18 years old.

Do you think a day will come when you can go back?

I've just come into a small Syrian coffee shop.

Customers are starting to arrive for

Mohamed is working here in the coffee shop.

He's 26 and he's been here since 2014.

Are you planning to go back to Syria, Mohamed?