A year after Assad: Syrians return home with fond memories of Turkish warmth and hospitality
More than half a million Syrians have returned home from Türkiye since late 2024 – from the safety of their second home to the long road of rebuilding their lives in a war-torn homeland.
Rua al-Zaaliq arrived in Türkiye in 2015 as she and her family fled Syria to escape a bloody crackdown by the Bashar al Assad dictatorship.
She gave birth to three daughters during her stay in Türkiye, made many friends and embraced the host country as her second home.
Understandably, it was with a heavy heart that she decided to return to her homeland recently – joining nearly three million Syrians who have gone back home since the fall of Assad a year ago.
Rua, 42, says she had to take the decision to return “for the sake of our future and my children’s education”.
“I love Türkiye and feel that I truly belong there. I have more Turkish friends than friends back here in Damascus,” Rua tells TRT World from the Syrian capital.
“I hope to return (to Türkiye) someday under better circumstances and travel across the country that became a second home to me.”
During the 14-year-long civil war in Syria, Türkiye became the largest host of refugees from the strife-torn country, becoming the temporary home for more than 3.5 million refugees, more than half of the 6.8 million Syrians forced to flee their country.
Since December 2024, more than half a million Syrians have returned to their homeland from Türkiye, signalling a growing wave of voluntary returns, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X.
Despite the recent returns, more than 2.5 million Syrians still live in Türkiye, according to data released in August.
On Monday, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated that 1.2 million refugees – plus 1.9 million internally displaced people – have returned to their homes in Syria since December 2024.
The UN agency said more than five million Syrians remain displaced within Syria, while an additional 4.5 million are living abroad.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, urged the international community, the private sector, and the Syrian diaspora to “intensify efforts to support recovery,” emphasising that all returns must be voluntary and sustainable.
A separate UN survey conducted earlier this year in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt found that a growing number of Syrians intend to return home. Among the 6,316 respondents, 80 percent said they definitely wish to go back, and 20 percent plan to do so within the next year.
Most of those returning have settled in Damascus and Aleppo, the country’s two largest cities, according to the UN, with roughly 350,000 people moving there since late 2024.
Another 95,000 have gone to city where the brutal repression of protests ignited the civil war in 2011.
Home sweet home
For many families, the decision to return carries both hope and hardship.
Hayat Sakrak, 48, tells TRT World about a long and painful journey before returning home.
“We first fled Syria in 2012 because of the war and the turmoil,” she says. “We went to Libya, but when the conflict spread there too, we moved to Türkiye in 2015.”
She lived in Türkiye for ten years before returning to Syria after “our country was finally liberated and freed from the oppressive regime”.
Now living in Damascus, she says that “there is a sense of relief — and a chance to rebuild.”
For older returnees, the experience of displacement has been equally transformative.
Sahire Jegel, 75, says she returned home to a devastated country after spending 13 years as a refugee.
“Most of the houses here are destroyed, and electricity only comes for two hours after being cut for four. We manage as best we can,” she tells TRT World.
“There is peace and safety now, though still much work to be done. Türkiye has been and is still very supportive throughout these difficult years…We are deeply grateful.”
Humanitarian agencies, however, caution that many returnees continue to face significant challenges.
Housing shortages, damaged infrastructure and limited access to basic services make daily life difficult for those trying to rebuild.
Still, after more than a decade of war, many Syrians say the chance to return home — however fragile — is a step towards reclaiming dignity and normalcy.
As Sahire adds, “Home is still home, no matter how much it needs to be rebuilt.”
For Syrians like Sahire, Hayat and Rua, returning is more than a physical journey — it is an act of faith.
After years of displacement, they carry with them memories of refuge and friendship in Türkiye, as well as the resilience to start anew in a country slowly emerging from the shadow of war.
Their stories, marked by loss and endurance, echo a collective longing shared by millions: to find peace, rebuild what was lost, and call home home again.