Syriac AANES official comments on Turkish drone strike
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Gabi Shamoun, co-chair of Qamishli Region Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said on Sunday that the repeated Turkish attacks aim at destabilizing the region, stressing that the civilian population live in a state of terror and fear because of the attacks.
On June 20, Shamoun was injured in a Turkish drone attack on an AANES vehicle, which killed three AANES officials.
Shamoun told North Press, “We are civilians and work to serve the people in AANES institutions. We do not carry weapons against Turkey to be targeted in this way.”
The Syriac official linked the Turkish attacks to AANES’ announcement of its intention to start prosecuting Islamic State (ISIS) militants, saying Turkey does not want these trials to happen or to have stability in this region.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
All the Syrian communities including the Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, and Turkmen take part and play their role in the AANES institutions.
The frequent Turkish attacks against civilians and AANES officials “denies Ankara’s claims of targeting terrorists,” he noted.
According to statistic recorded by the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press, since June 12, Turkey has escalated its shelling in northeast Syria by attacking 35 locations with over 50 shells, some via drones, killing dozens of people.