The Turkish military rescued an elderly couple in a rural area to the northeast of Afrin in Syria, security sources said yesterday.
During the ongoing Operation Olive Branch, launched on Jan. 20 to clear Afrin from the PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) and Daesh terrorists, Turkish soldiers liberated the village of Amude (Dikmetash) in northeastern Afrin.
The Turkish forces found an elderly couple while searching the houses in the village.
Hüseyin Davutoğlu, 73, and his wife Emine Davutoğlu, 75, were handed to the medical teams waiting on the Turkey-Syria border, via an armored ambulance. After an initial check-up, they were referred to a state hospital in the border province of Kilis.
During their treatment in the hospital, the elderly couple were discovered to have been deprived of food and water for days, which caused severe weakness. After going without food and water for days, the hearing-impaired old man is still sleeping, Chief Physician Ali Muhsin Güvelioğlu said.
Dr. Güvelioğlu added that the condition of the old woman was better and they were doing their best for the couple.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Emine Davutoğlu said she was originally from Kilis, but she had moved to Syria 40 years earlier after getting married.
She said they had gone through very tough times because of the terrorists who occupied the region, and were unable to leave their home for a long time out of fear.
"We waited in our house without food or water... We sat on the concrete floor of the room and it was terribly cold," Davutoğlu said.
She added that she finally went out and prayed and saw terrorists with weapons.
"I saw three-four terrorists killed outside… [Turkish soldiers] took us from there and brought us here [to Kilis]… We were left without food, water and we couldn't sleep. They oppressed everyone."
The Turkish military intensified its rescue operations while continuing to carry out the operation against YPG terrorists in the city.
Last week, an elderly man and woman in their 80s, left to die by the YPG in Afrin's Bilal Agha village, were rescued by Turkish security forces.
The security forces found Ahmad Hannan, 82, and Azime Hussain, 80, in two separate houses during searches in the village liberated from YPG terrorists as part of Operation Olive Branch against the terrorist group.
Also, a disabled woman, found in northwestern Syria's Hammam in critical condition, rescued by the Turkish Armed Forces received physical and medical treatment in Turkey's southern Hatay province.
ISTANBUL / DAILY SABAH WITH AA