Officials say that Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Damascus, Syria, next week after a halt of more than a decade.

Turkish Airlines is resuming flights to the Syrian capital, Damascus (DAM), and to Benghazi (BEN), Libya’s second city, from its Istanbul (IST) hub. The two destinations had featured on Turkish Airlines’ network in the past but were discontinued due to the military and political situation in both countries.

Commercial flights between Turkey and Syria resumed Thursday after 13 years with a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Damascus. Turkish media showed Syrian families draped in their national flag singing pro-opposition songs and cheering as they prepared to board flight TK0846 to Damascus.

Turkey's national flag carrier resumed flights to the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday after a break of nearly 13 years, state news agency Anadolu reported. A plane with 349 passengers took off from Istanbul International Airport for Damascus on Thursday morning in first such flight since April 2012,