Nine Iranian Kurds returned to Iran after being held in Syria for over 4 months

"Nine Iranians who traveled to Turkey with the aim of emigration and encountered problems during their travel through the Razi border port, within the framework of cooperation between the Iranian and Turkish governments are scheduled to enter the country today."
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to media during a press conference in Tehran on November 15, 2021. (Photo: AFP)
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to media during a press conference in Tehran on November 15, 2021. (Photo: AFP)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Nine Kurds from Iran, who were kept by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Syria for 122 days, were returned to Iran on Saturday.

“Nine Iranians who traveled to Turkey with the aim of emigration and encountered problems during their travel through the Razi border port, within the framework of cooperation between the Iranian and Turkish governments are scheduled to enter the country today,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a press statement.

Iran’s ambassadors to Turkey and Syria, and the Turkish and Syrian embassies in Iran all cooperated to facilitate the return home of those Kurds to their families, he added.

The nine Iranian citizens had been handed over to the FSA by the Turkish police in September after they identified them as Syrians.

Out of the nine Kurds, eight were from Paveh while the remaining one was from Sardasht in Iranian Kurdistan.

Their family members had protested in front of the Turkish embassy in Iran for several months.

It’s not the first time something like this happened to Kurdish refugees or migrants.

Over 50 Kurdish migrants from Iraqi Kurdistan were also stranded in Syria, after being deported by the Turkish police. They were able to return to the Kurdistan Region in September 2020 with the help of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).