KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – Residents and officials in Kobani, north Syria, are demanding the stop of the Turkish attacks and threats in order to benefit from lifting the Caesar Act sanctions on the Autonomous Administration-run areas in northeast Syria.
They welcome the US decision, describing it as a positive step. However, they say it does not solve the problem of the region.
On May 12, the United States authorized some foreign investment in areas of northern Syria that are outside government control, in what it said was a strategy designed to defeat Islamic State through economic stabilization.
The U.S. Treasury Department approved activities in 12 sectors including agriculture, construction and finance, but made clear that it did not permit any transactions with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or those designated under U.S. sanctions during the 11-year-long Syrian civil war.
Sheikho Tammo, 60, a resident of Kobani, said that excluding northeast Syria from the Caesar Act sanctions is good, important and welcomed by the residents of the region.
However, the Turkish threats and bombardment will constitute an obstacle to the foreign companies coming to the region. Even the residents of the region cannot invest in it, he added.
The city of Kobani and its countryside are occasionally subjected to Turkish bombardment, despite the entry into force of the Russian-Turkish agreement in 2019.
Turkey signed singed two ceasefire agreements with Russia and the US to stop its military operations following Turkey’s invasion of northeast Syria in October 2019.
ongoing Turkish bombardment
Haj Hanan Suleiman, 55, a resident of Kobani, also welcomed the US decision, but he expressed his fears of Turkey’s bombing of the area.
A day before the US decision was issued, a Turkish drone bombed the city of Kobani and its southern outskirts. The bombing resulted in killing a civilian and material damage to the residents’ property.
On April 22, a civilian was slightly injured, and shops were damaged, as a result of Turkish bombing on the city of Kobani.
“The second point is the issue of the crossing, I mean Semalka border crossing. it must be always opened by an international decision. It should not be subject to political agendas .it must be always opened,” he said.
Semalka Border Crossing is a border crossing established between the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) during the Syrian war .
The region also needs a project to deliver the water of the Euphrates River to irrigate the fertile agricultural land to support and develop agriculture in the region. It also needs the health sector support by establishing more factories and pharmaceutical companies, the residents say.
Waiting for the decision to be implemented
Muhammad Shahin, co-chair of the Executive Council in the Euphrates region, says that “the US decision is a positive step in principle. we are waiting for it to come into force.”
No companies or investments have come to the region yet, according to the official.
“We believe that lifting sanctions is a right decision, but it will not be implemented if security guarantees are not provided for these investments in these regions.” He added.
“As you know that the attacks and threats of Turkish forces along with their affiliated terrorist factions still pose the greatest threat or challenge to these areas.” Shahin said.