MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-KOBANI REFUGEES Syrians return to Kobani after Kurds win back border town

Record ID: 274864

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/TURKEY-KOBANI REFUGEES Syrians return to Kobani after Kurds win back border town
  • Date: 25th February 2015
  • Summary: MURSITPINAR, TURKEY (FEBRUARY 25, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF VEHICLES QUEUING ON ROAD VARIOUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE BACK OF A TRUCK WAITING TO CROSS INTO KOBANI SIGN ON BORDER FENCE READING (Turkish): "POLICE" REFUGEES GATHERING AT CHECK POINT REFUGEES CROSSING POLICE CONTROL POINT TRUCK DRIVING THROUGH POLICE CONTROL POINT POLICE SEARCHING REFUGEES (SOUNDBITE) (Kur
  • Embargoed: 12th March 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA873A1AL5F98DFVVPAYTQ316GD
  • Story Text: Around 1,000 refugees who fled the fighting in the strategic Syrian border town of Kobani returned home on Wednesday (February 25), Turkish Disaster management officials said.
    Near the Mursitpinar border crossing, dozens of vehicles carried people, along with suitcases and bags of food, to security checkpoints.
    Refugee Cemil Abdil spoke to Reuters at the crossing and expressed his relief at being able to return home.
    "We have been here for five months. We don't want anything but to return home. We are thrilled to see our hometown is now free. We are very happy and excited," said Abdil.
    So far around five thousand people who fled Kobani during the four-month battle between Kurdish and Islamic State forces have made their way home, only to find wrecked houses and unexploded bombs littering the streets.
    The border town, once home to 200,000 people, was largely destroyed by fighting in which Kurdish defenders held off militant Islamists trying to overrun the area.
    Assisted by Iraqi Peshmerga forces and almost daily air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition, the Kurds finally drove out the radical Sunni insurgents in late January and a fragile peace was restored.
    Returning resident Hedle Yare thanked the Kurdish forces for their efforts, allowing them to return home.
    "We thank the YPG and YPJ. They rescued us. I am very happy and I can't believe that I am returning to Kobani. I can't wait to be at home again. I am very excited to see my hometown," said Yare.
    "We are grateful to PKK, YPG. Peshmerga and Obama," added Kobani resident Sabri Mohammed Ali.
    Almost the entire population of Kobani fled across the border to Turkey to escape the fighting, some to refugee camps, others staying with family and friends or heading to Turkey's cities.
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