Beyza Binnur Dönmez
04 February 2019•Update: 05 February 2019
By Izzet Mazi
KILIS, Turkey
Some 150 Syrians including women and children left Turkey on Monday to return to their homeland, recently liberated from terrorists by Turkish anti-terror operations.
The Syrians, who had fled the civil war in their country for refuge in Turkey, got the necessary documents to return to their homeland after applying to a voluntary return program.
The migration management office in Oncupinar, southeastern Turkey, provided the Syrians with buses for their journey home.
The Syrian families expressed their happiness of returning to their motherland, adding that they were thankful for the warm reception they got in Turkey.
Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrians, more than any other country in the world.
At the end of last year, Turkey’s Interior Ministry said that nearly 300,000 Syrians had returned to their homes after successful Turkish counter-terror operations in the region.
Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region -- including Al-Bab, Afrin, and Azaz -- from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, making it possible for Syrians who fled the violence there to return home.
Turkish officials have promised a third operation to liberate the area of Syria east of the Euphrates as well.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is the group's Syrian branch.
