Syrian nationals who took shelter in Türkiye after fleeing the regime attacks in their country, celebrated on Sunday the apparent end of Assad as anti-regime forces captured Damascus.
From a historic district of Istanbul to a town on the border with Syria, celebrations were ubiquitous in the Syrian refugee community living in Türkiye.
In Istanbul’s Fatih, a hub for refugees who set up businesses there after fleeing Syria, the community gathered at a historic mosque for morning prayers. After the prayers, they convened in the courtyard, chanting God is Great in celebration. In nearby streets, some Syrian nationals formed convoys to celebrate the fall of Assad. They waved Turkish and Syrian opposition flags. Nour Ahmad, a student, said she was in tears and hoped she would return home. Elsewhere, Esenyurt, a district with a large Syrian population in western Istanbul, hosted mass celebrations. A group of Syrians convened in front of the Syrian Consulate in the Şişli district. A group of people photographed taking down the Assad regime’s flag from the consulate’s balcony.
Similar celebrations took place in provinces with large populations of refugees such as Adana. “We are happy. Now is time to return to our country. I will miss Türkiye. Maybe you come and visit us in Syria,” 19-year-old Syrian national Muhammad Mustafa told reporters as he joined celebrations there. In Kilis, which once hosted the largest number of Syrian refugees, the community formed convoys in a downtown area, waving flags. Muhammad Saban, who was 4 years old when he arrived in Türkiye 12 years ago, said this was the news they had been waiting for years. “We thank Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for hosting us,” he told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Hundreds of thousands have died in the Syrian war. More than half the prewar population of 23 million were forced from their homes, with millions fleeing abroad, including across the frontier to Türkiye. Many of those who settled learned Turkish, put their children in local schools and some acquired Turkish nationality, but they remained geographically close to their homeland, hoping they could someday return.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya has said more than 40% of the 3 million Syrians in Türkiye are from Aleppo, once the country's biggest city. But much of it was laid to waste when Syrian regime forces backed by Russia and Iran besieged and took control of opposition-held areas eight years ago. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had offered in July to meet Assad amid reconciliation efforts. He said at the time that 670,000 people had returned to Syria from Türkiye and forecast another million would return. But Yerlikaya advised caution. "Right now, to those (from Aleppo) who tell us 'I want to go now,' we tell them to wait. Once the region is identified as safe, it will be announced," he told reporters on Wednesday. The situation in northwest Syria has stabilized since 2020 under a deal between NATO member Türkiye, which backs the opposition, and Russia, a key ally of Assad.
Türkiye has become home to millions of Syrians who fled since the civil war erupted and hosted the largest refugee community in the world at one point.
"I didn't expect it to happen one day, not even in three centuries. No one was expecting this. This is a huge victory for us," said Mohamad Cuma, a student who arrived from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo three years ago as he joined celebrations in Istanbul. "It's incredible. It's like we've been born again," said Sawsan al-Ahmad, holding her young son by the hand. Al-Ahmad lived through the first few months of the siege of the strategic city of Homs.
She said she was delighted to be able to take her son to her "home soil," now that Assad has fallen.
In the middle of the jubilant throng, whose chanting could be heard hundreds of meters (yards) away, a man waved a portrait of Abdel-Basset al-Sarout, a former Syrian football star who became an anti-regime fighter and was killed in 2019 in clashes with Assad's forces.
"Today is a day of huge celebration for us Syrians," said 42-year-old Ibrahim al-Mohamed. "My son became handicapped because of Assad," he said, his eyes red and his voice cracking with emotion. "We were living in Aleppo and a bomb was dropped on the building next door. My son was traumatized. He lost the ability to speak. He's 13 now and just starting to get a little bit better."
"God be praised. We're rid of Assad," said Ahmed Mohamad, a teacher of the Quran who came to Türkiye from Aleppo 11 years ago after defecting from the Syrian regime army.
Cuma said he didn't care what became of Assad. "It's enough that he's gone," he said. "He can go to live in Russia, in Belarus, in Venezuela, wherever the hell he wants to go. Let him go because he's going to end up in hell." Cuma said he expected the whole of Syria would "be unified under one flag" and predicted 50% of Syrian refugees in Türkiye would return home. He said the reported fall of the Assad regime had altered his personal plans. "Well, my plan before this week was to pursue a master's (degree) in the U.K.," explained the civil engineering student at Istanbul's prestigious Boğaziçi University. "But now I think I could be a benefit for Syria's future and reconstruction. So most probably I'll go back."
