Over 7,600 Syrians Return From Türkiye in 5 Days After Assad’s Downfall
Syrian citizens return home from Turkey, Dec. 2024. X/ @Hedayatullah111
December 15, 2024 Hour: 9:55 am
Türkiye still hosts nearly 3 million Syrian refugees, according to official data.
On Sunday, Türkiye’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced that 7,621 Syrian nationals voluntarily returned to their homeland between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13, following the downfall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
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In a statement on the social media platform X, Yerlikaya provided detailed accounts concerning the daily returns of Syrians — 1,259 on Dec. 9, with 1,669, 1,293, 1,553, and 1,847 recorded in the following days.
He underscored that these Syrians’ repatriation was conducted in a “voluntary, safe, dignified, and orderly manner.” A total of 2,938,261 Syrians are now “under temporary protection” in Türkiye, a country that has hosted hosting millions of Syrian refugees who fled civil war since 2011.
Meanwhile, Israel intensified its airstrikes against Syrian military facilities on Saturday, conducting 24 air raids in the countryside of Damascus. The strikes reportedly hit tunnel-equipped installations carved into a mountainside in the targeted area, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The latest raids bring the total number of Israeli airstrikes on Syrian territory to 800 since the collapse of the Syrian government on Dec. 8. These operations have spanned 13 Syrian provinces.
On Saturday, Ahmad al-Shara, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), acknowledged the enormous scale of destruction in the Syrian capital Damascus and beyond after the downfall of Al-Assad.
He also said that Syria now stands at a critical juncture, requiring careful data-driven strategies and the establishment of a rule-of-law state to ensure lasting stability. Al-Shara emphasized the need to govern with a state-oriented mindset.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua
