Syrians in Turkey seek return to Daesh-free Jarabulus

GAZIANTEP, Turkey

At least 250 requests from Syrian refugees in Turkey to return to the liberated Syrian city of Jarabulus have been received by Turkish authorities, a Turkish migration official told Anadolu Agency Wednesday.

The Gaziantep office of the Directorate General of Migration Management, which operates under the Ministry of Interior, recorded the requests.

Oktay Bahceci, head of the provincial office, told Anadolu Agency the number of such applications was expected to increase after Jarabulus was cleared from Daesh terrorist group as part of the Operation Euphrates Shield, which began Aug. 24 when the Free Syrian Army (FSA), backed by the Turkish Armed Forces, liberated the city of Jarabulus.

Bahceci said the directorate would help Syrians return to Jarabulus.

Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the regime of Bashar al-Assad cracked down on pro-democracy protests -- which erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings -- with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than a quarter of a million victims have been killed and more than 10 million displaced across the war-battered country, according to the UN.

The Syrian Center for Policy Research, however, puts the death toll from the six-year conflict at more than 470,000 people.

Reporting by Kemal Karagoz, Yeter Erdine : Writing by Mahmoud Barakat