Hundreds of Syrian refugees in Turkey have begun to go to the border gates to return to their country following the announcement of the overthrow of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad by an alliance of Syrian rebel groups on Sunday, the Voice of America Turkish edition reported.
Syrian refugees who have traveled with their luggage to the Öncüpınar Border Gate in the southeastern province of Kilis and the Cilvegözü Border Gate in the southern city of Hatay between Turkey and Syria from many provinces such as İstanbul, Ankara, Kayseri, Bursa and Gaziantep have applied to the Migration Management authorities affiliated with the Interior Ministry to be able to return to Syria.
Before returning, Syrians were expected to hand over the temporary ID cards they received in Turkey to the authorities and sign a voluntary return form.
The majority of Syrians returning via the Öncüpınar Border Gate were from Aleppo. Syrians who spoke to VOA have said a new beginning awaits their country and that they are happy to be able to go back.
Following the outbreak of the civil war in Syria in 2011, Turkey has hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees worldwide, with as many as 3.6 million of them facing challenging and often precarious circumstances in the country, where anti-refugee rhetoric has been recently running higher.
The refugees thanked the people and government for enabling them to spend more than 10 years in Turkey in many cases and predicted that more Syrians will return home as conditions improve.
‘Start from scratch’
Muhammed Taha, who crossed from Aleppo to Turkey in 2014, is returning to his hometown Aleppo with his five children, four of whom were born in Turkey, after spending about 10 years in central province of Kayseri.
“I could not return to my country before because of the war. Thank God, the war is over, the conflicts have ended. I am applying to go to my hometown of Aleppo with my five children. I believe we will be more at peace there [now]. Justice has been served. I will be reunited with my relatives and friends there,” he said.
Another refugee who will return to his hometown of Aleppo, Hamza, said that he had set out from Gaziantep, where he lived with his wife and four children, to the border gate in Kilis and has launched the return process.
Ahmed Mansour, who also came from Gaziantep with his parents and family of four, thanked the Turkish people and the government for the time they spent in Turkey, saying, “Assad destroyed our country. Thank God, he had to flee in the end. We will start everything from scratch in our country. We will repair our destroyed homes and try to hold on to life by working there.”
Syrian refugees in Turkey have been frequently targeted by Turkish politicians, who held them responsible for social and economic problems in the country. The anti-Syrian rhetoric has gained momentum over time, especially during the presidential election in May 2023.
Erdoğan and his government have drawn widespread criticism from the opposition for pursuing an open-door policy for refugees and providing them with benefits.
Fidan pledges support for Syrians returning home
According to data from Turkey’s Presidency of Migration Management, there were 2,838,261 Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey as of November 28, before Assad was overthrown. Official data on how many Syrians have returned to their country in the last two days has not yet been released.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who spoke at the 15th Ambassadors’ Conference in Ankara on Monday, said his government will continue efforts to ensure the safe and voluntary return of Syrians and to rebuild the country.
He said a new era has begun in Syria, adding, “In the upcoming process, we hope for a Syria where different ethnic and religious groups live in peace within an inclusive governance approach. We want to see a new Syria that will have good relations with its neighbors and will bring peace and stability to its region. We are ready to provide the necessary support for this.”