Turkey's ambitious goal to restore safety in Syria to assist in the return of refugees continues paying off as some 100 families living in Istanbul lined up for the return process at the offices of a local municipality. Officials at the municipality of Esenyurt, a district on the remote west side of the city, guide the families on how to legally return to areas cleared of terrorists in Syria and cooperate with Turkish charities to fund the journeys. Last month alone, 35 Syrians living in the district returned to their hometowns with the workers loading their possessions on the trucks provided by the municipality that took them to Syria.

Officials say more Syrians applied to them when they found out that the municipality was covering the cost of journey back home.

District mayor Ali Murat Alatepe says Syrians generally go to Afrin and Jarablus, two Syrian towns cleared of terrorists by Free Syrian Army (FSA) backed by Turkish military. "Seeing peace prevailing again, Syrians yearn to return there. We completed the process for some families and more will be sent in the coming days," the mayor said.

Since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Turkey has been hosting some 3.5 million refugees, the largest Syrian refugee community in the world. The country has spent some $30 billion for the needs of refugees living in tent camps as well as those living outside the camps on their own. As the conflict escalated, Turkey stepped up its advocacy for the establishment of safe zones within Syria, to accommodate both those who took shelter abroad as well as internally displaced Syrians.

The returns increased in the past months after successive operations to end the Daesh terrorists' takeover of al-Bab, Jarablus and the clearing of Afrin from YPG terrorists in operations Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch in 2016 and this year. Overall, more than 160,000 Syrian refugees have returned home recently through border crossings.