Christians return to homeland in Syria as YPG/PKK terrorists cleared out

By Esref Musa and Ethem Emre Ozcan

RAS AL-AYN, Syria (AA) - Two Christian brothers from Syria now live in their homeland in peace after the area where they once lived was liberated from the YPG/PKK terror group because of Turkey's cross-border operation.

Christian minorities in northeastern Ras al-Ayn province suffered the consequences of the occupation of their towns by the YPG/PKK terror group in July 2013.

Naum and Ziyad Melki had to leave their sister behind and flee the violence of the terror group. They took shelter in a refugee camp in Mardin province in southeastern Turkey.

After learning their sister was detained by the terrorists, Naum Melki returned to try to rescue her in May 2016. But he was detained by the terror group for three years.

The town was liberated as part of Turkey's Operation Peace Spring in October 2019. Ziyad Melki, who spent six years in Turkey, has returned to his homeland.

- 'Turkish brothers took good care of us'

Naum Melki told Anadolu Agency that Turks and institutions in Turkey, especially the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority and the Turkish Red Crescent, helped him and his brother from the moment they stepped into the country.

He said they were offered to be sent to Europe by Christian clergymen in Turkey. "We did not go to Europe because we had rights and lands. We refused to,” he said. “We always dreamed of going back to Ras al-Ayn one day."

He said the Syrian National Army and the Turkish army cleared the land of terrorists and worked to rebuild the liberated town.

"Whatever Turkey did for (the repair of) the mosques in the town, they did the exact same for the churches here," he noted.

He emphasized that the Christian community in Ras al-Ayn live in peace and harmony with other ethnicities.

"We frequently hear that the Western community is concerned about the presence of us, the Christians here, but we have never seen one of them here," he said.

He was critical of countries supporting the YPG/PKK terror group.

"On the contrary, we have seen the violations of the YPG terrorist group, which speaks of the so-called brotherhood of peoples, supported by the US."

Ziyad Melki noted that churches in the region have been protected by the Turkish and Syrian armies. "As a member of a Christian community, we perform our religious duties just as freely as other ethnicities here,” he said.

Syria has been embroiled in a vicious civil war since early 2011 when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

More than 5 million civilians have since been displaced.

Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful anti-terror operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield (2016), Olive Branch (2018), and Peace Spring (2019).

In its over 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK's Syrian offshoot.

*Writing by Dilan Pamuk in Ankara