Turkey’s national flag carrier resumed flights to Syria’s capital Damascus on Thursday after a nearly 13-years.
According to Anadolu, a jet carrying 349 passengers flew from Istanbul International Airport to Damascus on Thursday morning, marking the first such journey since April 2012.
According to official numbers, Turkey has taken in the world’s most Syrian refugees, with over 3 million.
According to Anadolu, many Syrians are coming home for the first time since the demise of long-time tyrant Bashar al-Assad in early December.
Photos showed passengers boarding the plane with the Syrian flag hung around their shoulders.
“I feel like I’m in a dream,” traveler Ahmet Kiraz told Anadolu. Kiraz noted that after living in Turkey since 2012, he had given up hope of ever returning to Syria.
Turkish Airlines had discontinued direct flights to the neighboring country following the civil war that began in 2011.
The airline had previously declared plans to fly three times a week to Damascus.
According to a corporate spokeswoman, more information will be released later today.
