Ankara:
Since December 9 last year, a total of 175,512 Syrians have returned to their home country from Turkey in a voluntary manner, as announced by Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya. The cumulative number of Syrian returnees from Turkey since 2017 has now reached 915,515, with 33,730 families among them. These returns have been conducted in a voluntary, safe, dignified, and orderly fashion, according to Xinhua news agency.
The return process is closely monitored and managed transparently, with oversight from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), emphasized Yerlikaya. To support the returnees, Turkey has implemented measures allowing authorized exit and re-entry, and has stationed migration representatives in Syria to provide on-ground assistance.
Following the outbreak of civil war in 2011, millions of Syrians fled their homeland, with Turkey hosting over 3.6 million Syrian refugees at the peak of the crisis, based on UN data.
The Turkish government, backing the Islamist-led rebels who overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, aims to expedite the return of refugees to alleviate tensions arising from their presence in certain regions of the country.
Overall, around 400,000 Syrians have returned from neighboring countries post-Assad’s downfall, as per the UN refugee agency UNHCR. Additionally, over one million internally displaced Syrians have returned to their residences within the country.
A significant shift in Syria’s political landscape commenced on December 8, 2024, when Bashar al-Assad, who governed Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia subsequent to anti-regime forces seizing control of Damascus. This marked the end of Baath Party rule that had persisted since 1963.
On January 29, a transitional Syrian administration was established under Ahmed al-Sharaa’s leadership, the commander of the opposition forces that ousted Assad. The new administration dissolved Syria’s constitution, security services, armed factions, the Baath Party, and Parliament, paving the way for a new political framework.
(This article is unaltered apart from the headline and has been published through a syndicated feed.)
