Restaurant owner in Isis-liberated Syrian town names eatery after Donald Trump
Walid Shekhi, 40, opened the restaurant in Kobani, which was liberated by Isis in January 2015.
A small restaurant owner in the Syrian city of Kobani has named his eatery after incoming US President Donald Trump. The 40-year-old Syrian Kurd calls his falafel restaurant "Trump Restaurant", hoping that the Republican will continue supporting the Kurds in eliminating Islamic State (Isis) group.
Walid Shekhi opened the restaurant last week in central Kobani, a city which is currently undergoing reconstruction after the Islamist militants were driven out of the area and surrounding neighbourhoods in January 2015.
The father of six reportedly said that his restaurant is a recognition of the support given by the US-led coalition forces during an operation to liberate his hometown from IS (Daesh) control. Kurdish fighters of the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Peshmerga forces fought the jihadists with air support from the coalition forces to eventually free the region.
The residents of Kobani and surrounding villages had fled during the four-month-long military offensive against Isis, which caused heavy damage to the city. However, they returned and are now reconstructing their hometown.
Shekhi told Syria's ARA News that he believes the US, under Trump, "will provide more support to the Kurds to fight and eventually eliminate Daesh terrorists".
"He [Trump] is the leader of the United States, the greatest country in the world, and we Kurds love the United States, so we love Donald Trump. That's why I named my restaurant after him," Shekhi added.
A massive operation is underway against Isis fighters, both in Iraq and Syria, with the US-led coalition forces backing local fighters to drive out the militants from their strongholds like Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.