ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Nine Kurds from Iran have been released by Turkey-backed Syrian militants months after their failed attempt to reach Europe, the family of one of the migrants told Rudaw on Friday.
Sixty-six Kurdish migrants were arrested in the Turkish city of Aksaray on August 21. Eight migrants were from the Iranian city of Paveh in Kermanshah province, with an additional migrant from Iran’s Sardasht city, and the rest drawing from the Kurdistan Region.
The migrants identified themselves as Syrian in an attempt to avoid being deported to Iran and Iraq, but the Turkish police handed them to the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) - previously known as Syrian Free Army. The migrants from the Region were released 11 days later, but the fate of the other nine remained unclear until Friday.
Rashin Roustami, the sister of one of the migrants who has been running social media campaigns calling for their release, told Rudaw on Friday that she received a phone call from her brother, Afshar Roustami, who informed her that they all have been released by the SNA and are now in Turkey.
“After the completion of measures in Turkey, all of them will be returned to Eastern Kurdistan,” added the sister of the migrant, referring to Kurdish areas in Iran.
The families of the nine migrants called for their urgent release this week.
Reporting by Sirwan Abbas
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