Turkey escalates its attacks against North and East Syria

The invading Turkish state has recently increased its invasion attacks against North and East Syrian regions. The Turkish forces aim to intimidate the people of the region, to force them to migrate and to change the demographic structure.

The invading Turkish state which has occupied many parts of North-East Syria from Afrin to Azaz, from Bab to Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê, aims to occupy a large part of Syrian territory and annex it to its own soil. The Turkish state does not even conceal its plans to revive the Ottoman Empire through its invasion attacks.

ANHA compiled the following balance sheet of the latest attacks against the region.

On Saturday, August 21 Turkish drones targeted a civilian vehicle in the south of Kobanê. On August 22, Turkish forces targeted a vehicle in front of the House of the Wounded in Qamishlo and injured two members.

11 people were martyred and dozens others were injured as a result of the Turkish attacks on Zirgan, Til Temir, Eli Fero Road, Ain Issa and Manbij since the beginning of August.

In another attack by the invading army on the village of Sefawiyê in the countryside of Ain Issa on August 4, four civilians were martyred. A child and a woman were martyred following the Turkish attacks on Til Temir, Zirgan and its countryside on August 17.

On August 19, Turkish drones targeted the vehicle of SDF commander Rênas Roj on the Eli Fero Road. Commander Renas Roj was martyred in this attack.

In another attack carried out by the invading Turkish army on the same day, 4 members of the Til Temir Military Council were martyred. More than 20 civilians were injured during the attacks in August.

Turkish fighter jets had previously attacked the region now and then. On January 22 this year, the invading state targeted the village of Memit, south of Kobanê, leaving a civilian injured.

On April 16, Turkish drones bombed the house known as the Öcalan House, where Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan had stayed in the village of Elpelur in 1979.

On June 23, three women activists were martyred in an attack by Turkish reconnaissance aircraft in the village of Helince.

Despite an agreement between Turkey and Russia which designates Russia to be the guarantor state in the region and to maintain the ceasefire, the Turkish state continues its attacks.

On October 22, 2019, a 10-article agreement was signed between the invading Turkish state and Russia according to which the SDF was supposed to withdraw 30 kilometres from the Syrian-Turkish border and declare a ceasefire. Furthermore, Turkish and Russian patrol squads were to be deployed at a depth of 10 kilometres along the Turkish border, and the Syrian government would deploy its troops along the border.

The Turkish state, which did not fulfil the terms of the agreement and violated the borders, has continued its attacks on the region. Russia also did not act as a guarantor state and did not halt the attacks. The SDF is the only party which adheres to the agreement.

As the international community and Russia continue to remain silent towards the Turkish attacks, the peoples of Northern and Eastern Syria are calling for a de-escalation of the Turkish attacks with their actions and protests.

On August 24, hundreds of Kobanê citizens gathered in front of the Russian military base and condemned the Turkish aggression against the people of the region. In Raqqa and Qamishlo, thousands of people took to the streets to denounce the Turkish attacks.