IDPs from Syria’s Sere Kaniye protest Turkish occupation of Afrin
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – On the occasion of the third anniversary of the occupation of Afrin, the council of Washokani Camp, near Syria’s Hasakah, organized a march inside the camp in which the displaced from Sere Kanye, issued a statement denouncing the Turkish occupation of Syria’s Afrin.
Washokani camp was established in October 2019 and is populated by internally displaced people fleeing the Turkish invasion of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the invasion, and the camp, built by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in cooperation with the Kurdish Red Crescent, is home to 2,390 families living in 1,800 tents.
“Three years have passed since the occupation of Afrin by the Turkish state and its mercenaries, the so-called Syrian National Army of the Syrian [National] Coalition,” said the statement, delivered by Wafa Hussein, a member of the council in the camp.
“The occupation began with 72 aircraft opening fire on the people and the land, which caused destruction, devastation, and victims from the city of Afrin and its people,” she added. “This occupation, which caused the displacement of nearly 600,000 people, aims to bring about demographic change in the region, all in light of international silence.”
Hussein called on the UN, the UN Security Council, and human rights organizations to hold perpetrators of crimes in Turkish-occupied Afrin accountable, expel the occupation forces, and ensure a safe return for the people of Afrin to their land.
The Turkish invasion of Afrin began on January 20, 2018, when Turkish forces and their affiliated opposition groups under the banner of the Syrian National Army invaded the region. After months of resistance by the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) against tens of thousands of Turkish soldiers and opposition militants, the city of Afrin fell on March 18.
Aladin Ali, the co-chair of Washokani camp council, said, “Until today, the same occupation is happening; the same violations, killings, and assaults. Demographic change is being carried out there.”
Ali called on the international community and human rights groups and associations to assist in exposing violations and returning the people of Afrin to their homes.
Oueiss Muhammad, a resident of the camp who was displaced from Sere Kaniye, said, “We condemn the Turkish occupation of Afrin, and I, as a displaced person from Seri Kanye, know exactly what the occupation and suffering mean, because we have suffered like the people of Afrin.”
He added, “We only want to return to our lands and homes that were occupied by the Turkish state. It is sufficient for what we suffered from killing and displacement. I appeal to humanitarian organizations to sympathize with us and provide aid for us to return to our homes.”