Emotions run high as Syrians in Turkey consider going home

DW (English)

Turkey opened its border to more than 3 million Syrian refugees who fled the civil war and the now-ousted Assad regime. DW spoke with some people who have made Istanbul their home, who are both optimistic and anxious about returning to Syria.

Transcript

00:00For Ali Swadi, a Syrian engineer, it is just the best moment ever.

00:07Our dreams have come true, thank God.

00:12For 15 years we have been waiting for this day.

00:16We have been very patient. It was very difficult.

00:20We suffered. We became refugees.

00:25Our state, our country was ruined.

00:30Words can't express how happy I am.

00:35Sentiments shared by so many with whom we spoke.

00:39Refugees, ready to go back to Syria.

00:42We are capable of returning to our country and rebuilding it,

00:46making it better than it was before.

00:48We were subjected to Assad's oppression and many hardships,

00:52but thank God we survived. We were allowed to live in Turkey.

01:00Many here have reactivated long-dormant plans to leave.

01:04Farouk Nekar's mobile phone shop conveniently sells luggage too.

01:09Of course we want to leave in a month or two.

01:11We're already slowly emptying our shop,

01:13so we're getting rid of everything slowly, and then I'll go.

01:17We have our land, our house there.

01:20Our house is ruined. Our factory is also ruined.

01:23But I will start from scratch.

01:25I came here with $100, and I'm going to leave with $1,000.

01:29But it's the same. I came here with nothing.

01:32I'm going back there with nothing.

01:36Yusuf Ahmed hopes for the best of two worlds for his two children,

01:41dividing time between his native homeland and his adopted homeland.

01:47God willing, of course we are planning to return, but not just yet.

01:52We have to wait. The war is continuing.

01:56There is not a complete government in place, so I'm not going back at this moment.

02:01I'll wait for at least six months or even a year.

02:04If I go, I'll set up a business there, but I will also stay with my work here.

02:11Beyond the practical, there are the emotional issues in play

02:15for so many Syrian refugees living in Turkey who are considering a return home.

02:24We Syrians want to return, but there's another part of us that wants to stay.

02:30We have become like family here and built bonds with other people.

02:36Many Turkish women married Syrian men, and many Syrian men married Turkish women.

02:43We are living together in peace, thank God.

02:48This is the spot where many Syrian refugees expect to cross back into their homeland.

02:53One thing they'll have to consider before that moment,

02:56the fact that most will lose their temporary protection status in Turkey

03:00once they step over the border.

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