Syriac Military Council: international community must end Turkish violations
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Aram Hanna, spokesman for the Syriac Military Council, spoke earlier with North Press Agency about violations by Turkey and its affiliated military factions in Syria.
The Syriac Military Council, which is under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has a strong presence in the towns and villages near the Khabur River, a tributary of the Euphrates which currently winds through the front lines between SDF-affiliated forces and Turkish-backed armed groups.
Operation Peace Spring
In October 2019, Turkey launched its “Peace Spring” operation with the assistance of affiliated militias in the Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad areas, eventually occupying large swaths of the area and displacing hundreds of thousands before finally agreeing to a ceasefire under Russian auspices.
Despite the validity of the ceasefire, violations by Turkey and their affiliated militias continue in the Peace Spring areas.
“Turkey routinely targets the vicinity of Tel Tamr without any interference from Russian forces, which act as the guarantor of the agreement,” Hanna explained.
He added that one of Turkey’s most severe violations was the cutoff of water from both Alouk station, which supplies water to more than a million people in Hasakah and its countryside, and the Euphrates River, which affects millions more across Syria.
Historic precedent
Hanna referred to the occupation of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad as “a cause for concern,” adding that there are similarities between the ideology of the Islamic State and Turkish-backed militants.
Al-Nusra Front, previously known as al-Qaeda in Syria, attacked the Sere Kaniye area in 2012. The group has been accused of having links to the Turkish state, according to information uncovered by journalists such as Lindsey Snell.
Turkey is viewed with suspicion by many SDF-affiliated groups in the Tel Tamr and Khabur River areas; North Press previously spoke to Assyrian Khabur Guards Commander Nabil Warde, who said that Turkish forces “have the same mentality and ideology” as ISIS.
“It is no secret that the Turkish regime has taken a position of support for terrorism. Since the previous Ras al-Ain events in 2012 by al-Nusra Front and other terrorist factions, these dark forces used border crossings in their attack on the city, and medical and military support was also clear,” Aram Hanna told a North Press correspondent earlier this week.
Hanna added that Turkey also provided support to ISIS during its attack on the Tel Tamr region in 2015; the terror group destroyed eight churches and kidnapped more than 200 Assyrians from the villages around the Khabur River at that time.
Hanna concluded by calling on the international community to “put an end to violations by Turkey and factions loyal to it and find a diplomatic solution that guarantees the restoration of our occupied lands.”