2017 year in review: Aleppo's residents dream of returning home
On December 22, 2016, Syrian regime forces seized Aleppo from opposition fighters, forcing many residents to flee the city. Many of them are still waiting to return home.
A former rebel-held neighbourhood in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, December 16, 2017.
Friday marks the first anniversary of the fall of Aleppo to Syrian regime forces after four years of bitter fighting.
Following months of regime siege – with the help of Russian air forces and Iranian-backed militias – tens of thousands of people were left starving and in need of medical attention.
They were evacuated just days before the rebels handed over the city to regime forces.
Many of the evacuees have been relocated to opposition-held areas around the country.
Among them were newlyweds Marwa and Saleh, a Syrian couple who were married during the siege.
They have settled in the northern province of Idlib, and – like many other Aleppo residents – still grieve the tragic day they had to flee their home, and wait for the day they would return.
"It's very hard for someone to leave their home. Our life after Aleppo was scattered. Yet may God bless those people who took us in." says Marwa.
TRT World's Chelsea Carter has more on their story.
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