President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday pledged to reopen a border post on Turkey’s southern frontier with Syria to facilitate the return of refugees after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, Agence France-Presse reported.
“In order to ease the traffic at the border, we’re opening the Yayladağı border gate,” Erdoğan said, referring to a crossing on the westerly edge of the frontier that has been closed since 2013.
Turkey, which has a long border with Syria, is home to nearly three million refugees who fled their homeland after the start of the civil war in 2011, with many hundreds flocking to cross the frontier in the wake of Assad’s departure in order to finally return home.
Although not directly involved in the rebel operation that ousted Assad, Turkey has expressed support for the move and said it hoped the strongman’s removal would allow the refugees to return home.
“The strong wind of change in Syria will be beneficial for all Syrians, especially the refugees. As Syria gains stability, voluntary returns will increase and the 13-year longing of the Syrians for their homeland will come to an end,” he said.