SOHR: Turkish border guards killed and tortured nearly ten civilians in January

As Turkey’s government keeps closing border crossings to Syrians while allowing military vehicles and soldiers to enter Syria through the same crossings, worsening an already disastrous situation in Syria, Turkish gendarmerie (military police) continue their atrocities against Syrian civilians seeking a safe refuge from the devastating military battles.

In January 2022, SOHR documented the death of three civilians, including a child, by the Turkish gendarmerie in Qamishlo, Kobani and Idlib. SOHR also documented the torture of six other civilians by the Turkish gendarmerie while attempting to cross into Turkish territory.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) renewed their appeal to the United Nations, UN Security Council and international community to exert maximum pressure on the Turkish government to stop its violent and illegal pushbacks against Syrian civilians fleeing from military operations in their areas. The observatory also warned against attempts to sneak into Turkey through unsafe routes in light of the escalating violent pushbacks by Turkish gendarmerie along the Syria-Turkey border.

SOHR also called for “referring Turkey’s pushbacks, which amount to premeditated murders, to international courts, so that all those responsible and those who aided and abated the killing of Syrian people can face justice.”