Broken mother still mourns son killed in Turkish strike in NE Syria
The mother of Diyar, a man who was killed in a Turkish drone strike in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria – North Press
By Dilsoz Youssef
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Nariman sorrowfully scrolls through her son’s photos on her cellphone. She pauses to wipe his face on the screen and continues to navigate through the pictures. It’s the face of her 20-year-old son who lost his life three months ago in a Turkish drone strike.
Diyar Khalil, a fighter in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), was killed in a Turkish drone strike of a car in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, along with some of his comrades, leaving his mother with memories.
Turkey views the SDF as an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been waging an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
Khalil’s mother did not expect that her son, who had fought for years against the Islamic State (ISIS) and survived, would be killed in a Turkish strike.
The 50-year-old woman narrates her son’s stories on the front lines, saying that when he would talk to them about the battles, and that they would be amazed by his bravery, “but I was afraid. I would stay sleepless for several nights until he came back home.”
During Diyar’s years of fighting against ISIS, he had often faced dangers that could kill him because he was fearless, according to his siblings and friends.
“One day, he came back, and there was a bullet lodged in his bulletproof vest. He said, ‘Thanks to your prayers, mother, I have escaped death once again,’” the mother recalls.
In 2019, after the SDF declared the defeat of ISIS in the town of Baghuz, the final stronghold of ISIS in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria, Diyar returned to his hometown of Qamishli. He joyfully announced his marriage to his cousin, who had eagerly awaited his return.
Diyar chose not to hold a wedding ceremony out of respect and loyalty to his fallen comrades. He had dreams of starting a family and having a child with his wife, but his untimely death prevented those aspirations from becoming a reality.
The wife, her heart heavy with the indelible memories of her beloved husband, was deeply impacted by the tragedy, leaving her in a state of emotional distress that rendered her unable to find her voice.
Diyar’s death had a profound impact on the family and his SDF friends, who had planned to go out in a picnic two days before he was targeted. “Unlike his usual self, he was visiting us daily as if he was bidding us farewell,” said the mother with eyes bursting of tears.
She added, “I feel like the world has ended, and that I lost a part of me.”
Having already lost one son, Nariman now lives in fear of further loss, as she has two other sons who have joined the SDF amid the ongoing Turkish attacks on SDF positions in northeastern Syria.