Dr. Mehdi Davut smiles as he describes his planned return to his homeland Syria for the first time in eight years to see how his aid association can help in Aleppo, a major city seized by rebels last week.
"The liberation of Aleppo brought us such joy because Aleppo was a source of pain," he said in Istanbul, where some half a million Syrians live.
Syrian rebels captured Aleppo from President Bashar Assad's forces, bringing hopes of return among hundreds of thousands exiled from the city, which has been under Assad's control since 2016. On Thursday, rebels also captured the city of Hama.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.