AANES urges Syrian government to ensure return of Sere Kaniye, Tel Abyad IDPs
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) urged on Thursday the Syrian transitional government to ensure the safe return of displaced residents from Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad in northeastern Syria to their homes.
In a statement marking the sixth anniversary of Turkey’s 2019 military invasion and occupation of the two cities, the AANES urged Damascus to “assume its national and humanitarian responsibilities” and take concrete steps to end ongoing violations committed by Turkish-backed factions in the occupied areas.
The AANES said that any action by the government should be “part of a comprehensive national framework aimed at ending the policies of occupation and demographic change” in northern Syria.
According to the statement, Turkey’s offensive displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians and was accompanied by serious human rights abuses, including killings, kidnappings, looting, and destruction of infrastructure—part of what it described as “a systematic policy of ethnic cleansing.”
The AANES stressed that Turkey’s ongoing presence “poses a direct threat to the unity and stability of Syrian territory” and reaffirmed that “liberating occupied areas and ensuring the safe return of their residents is both a national and humanitarian duty.”
On Oct. 9, 2019, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, seizing Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The assault displaced more than 200,000 civilians, and rights groups have since documented widespread abuses and demographic changes in the occupied region.