Syrians bidding farewell to Türkiye are eager to rebuild their homeland following the toppling of the Assad regime in December.
With the school year coming to a close, voluntary returns from Türkiye to Syria have accelerated and border gates in southern cities have been inundated with Syrian refugees excited to rebuild their country.
“Everything was wonderful in Türkiye with my children,” Emine Jourek Haji said as she waited to cross the Öncüpınar border in the southern Kilis province. “On the other hand, it was difficult because it’s not easy to live in a different country with four children but the 11 years have been wonderful. I thank Türkiye very much.”
For high-schooler Zeynep Kassap who has lived in Türkiye for eight years, leaving was a bittersweet experience.
“I have made unforgettable memories here. I have Turkish friends and I love them very much. I am sad to leave but I am happy to return to my country,” Kassap said.
Kassap and her family will go to Aleppo where she will continue her education. “I would like to thank Türkiye for providing us with the opportunity to stay here,” she said.
Mahmut Matra Karfa came to Türkiye 14 years ago when the civil war broke out and he was 4 years old.
“I studied, worked and experienced everything here,” Karfa said. “I get along well with my Turkish friends. It is difficult to leave but I will get used to it. Maybe I will visit again in the future.”
“Everyone ends up in their homeland, no matter where you stay, you eventually go back,” he added.
Calling out to fellow Syrians, Karfa said now was the time to go back.
“All Syrians need to return. Enough is enough. Assad is gone,” he said. “Let’s all grow our homeland again.”
Turkish authorities earlier this month said more than 273,000 Syrian refugees left Türkiye for their homes after the collapse of the Assad regime last December. Overall, more than 1.1 million Syrians have departed since 2016.
Türkiye has been home to millions from its southern neighbor as the Assad regime escalated attacks on the opposition and the country’s civil war dragged on. At one point, it was home to the largest Syrian refugee community in the world.
The country’s border crossings with Syria teemed with refugees within days of the fall of Damascus, the last bastion of Baathist resistance, with families rushing to return home after years of civil war. Ankara mobilized its border crossings when Syrians spontaneously streamed toward the border, which had been occasionally shut during the civil war, and streamlined the procedures for returnees.
Syria's civil war killed over half a million people and left the country in desperate need of reconstruction. Western sanctions imposed on Assad were recently lifted, paving the way for a potential recovery.
Nearly 2 million Syrians have been able to return home from abroad or from displacement within the war-ravaged country.
A report from the UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said the first months of this year saw rising numbers of Syrians returning home.
As of mid-May, more than 500,000 Syrians are estimated to have crossed back into the country since the fall of Assad, while an estimated 1.2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) have returned to their areas of origin since the end of November.
The UNHCR estimates that up to 1.5 million Syrians from abroad and 2 million IDPs may return by the end of 2025. The UNHCR report says that Türkiye follows Iran with the highest number of refugees, at 2.9 million people.
