In 2011, when the Syrian civil war started, the Türkiye-Syria-Jordan-Saudi Arabia land route was completely closed to transit passages and Umrah tours.
After the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria, Umrah journeys by land started again after the new administration opened the roads.
There has been a significant increase in the number of people going to Umrah by land from Turkey in recent months.
Those who choose the land route have the opportunity to visit historical and touristic places on the route in Syria and Jordan, as well as see historical stops on the Hejaz route.
Özlem Eğinkaya, who was part of an Umrah group that went from Turkey to Damascus, the capital of Syria, and from there to Jordan, talked about her journey to the Holy Land by land.
Eğinkaya said that traveling by land to see the region and understand its culture was very valuable for them and said:
"Our journey started in Istanbul. From Istanbul, we went to Damascus, then to Amman and the Hejaz Railway in Wadi Rum. We completed our journey from Harem to Haremeyn, following the road followed by our ancestors, in Mecca after Medina."
Eğinkaya noted that the Umrah journey by land was a great experience for him.
Eren Sadullah Yarim, one of the participants of the trip, stated that the trip was a continuation of an educational process for them.
Stating that they received training titled "Arabs" for 8 weeks under the guidance of Ahmet Yasir Feten in the study group called Earth Academy, Yarim said, "We completed the history of Islam by covering all its aspects. Then, we had the opportunity to carry out such a field visit to observe what we learned on site and to get to know these geographies closely." he said.
Kadriye Çolak, who participated in the Umrah journey, said that they visited the Hejaz Railway stop in Vadi Rum in the south of Jordan and that the journey was exciting for her.
Expressing his happiness for the resumption of the journey to the holy lands from Turkey by land, Çolak said, "We set out from Harem to Haremeyn. Alhamdulillah, we are grateful to be able to come and visit these geographies when there is no war." he said.
Ahmet Yasir Feten, the guide of the Umrah group, said that they carried out an 8-week program with the Earth Academy working group and read many books in order to get to know the region, its history, society and culture before the trip.
Feten stated that after visiting the historical places in Damascus, they went to Jordan and visited the Turkish Martyrs' Cemetery in the city of Salt and reached Amman.
Emphasizing that they visited historical and cultural stops on the Hejaz route throughout the journey, Feten said that they followed the traces of the Hejaz Railway in Aqaba and Wadi Rum.
Feten concluded his words by stating that after Medain-i Salih and Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia, they reached Medina via Tabuk and Hayber:
"Our journey, which started from Harem, followed the historical routes in the footsteps of our ancestors, reaching Medina and then Mecca. We ended our journey in the holy lands. Our journey to the holy lands, in the footsteps of our ancestors, took 9 days to reach Mecca from Istanbul."
