Izzet Mazi
01 March 2019•Update: 02 March 2019
KILIS, Turkey
Around 315,000 Syrians living in Turkey have so far returned voluntarily to their home country after Turkey's anti-terror operations cleared their hometowns of terrorists.
On Friday, 70 more Syrians were seen off to their homeland after completing procedures in Directorate of Migration office located in southern Kilis province.
"God bless [the Turkish nation]. They provided us with shelter and food. But in any case, the homeland cannot be forgotten. This is why we are returning," Hasan al-Ahmad, who has been living in Turkey for the past 7 years, told Anadolu Agency.
Abbas al-Ahmad, another Syrian refugee, also thanked Turkey.
"God bless the Turkish people. I was received with such sincerity that I haven't seen at home. You have cleared our country [of terrorists]," al-Ahmad said.
Mohammad al-Mohammad said he had to leave due to his sister’s illness back home.
"I have had beautiful days in Turkey which has been a homeland for me. I have never felt like an alien," he said.
Turkey hosts 4.7 million foreigners from 192 nations.
Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northern Syria have liberated the region from the YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, including Al-Bab, Afrin, and Azaz, making it possible for Syrians who fled the violence there to return home.
Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected ferocity.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.
Writing By Gözde Bayar
