ERBIL, Iraq, KRI (North Press) – As they were waiting for stability to be prevailed in their country so they can go back and reunite with their families again, Syrian refugees in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) are now concerned about their families and losing hope of returning to their homes after the latest Turkish threats of launching a new military operation in northern Syria.
On May 23, Erdogan announced his intensions of launching a new military operation in northern Syria to complete the so-called remained portions of the “safe zone” along Turkey’s southern border.
The Turkish “safe zone” is an area 30-35 km (19-22 miles) deep into Syrian territory that Turkey started to establish in 2019 to settle Syrian refugees in an area along its border with Syria, as well as to keep it free from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which it regards as terrorists.
Badi’a Sheikhmous, a Syrian refugee in Erbil, the capital of the KRI, said that she is concerned about her family in Syria, especially with an ominous Turkish incursion looming over her region.
“We are not happy at all. We live here but our hearts are there with our families,” she said.
Adnan Dilo, another Syrian refugee in Erbil, said that Turkey seeks to invade Tel Rifaat and Manbij just like Afrin, Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad, “and this is totally unacceptable.”
The refugees stress that this operation is another “occupation” of Syria.
“All Syrians have to unite and face this Turkish military operation by a joint political decision between Syrian government and other de-facto rulers on the ground, and a joint public decision that represents all the Syrian population,” Dilo said.
In the past years, Turkey launched two major military operations targeting Afrin in 2018, and Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad in 2019, causing huge destruction to the infrastructure and displacing thousands of families to other areas in Syria and to the KRI.
On June 7, In a press briefing, the spokesman for the US Department of State, Ned Price, renewed his country’s concerns of a breach to the 2019 ceasefire agreement in northeast Syria, and said that any escalation by Turkey would affect the battle against the Islamic State Organization (ISIS).
Similar to the other Syrian refugees in Erbil, Hawas Yassin, a refugee from the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakah, said, “The Syrian refugees here call upon the international community to stand with the Syrian population and prevent Turkey from carving out more Syrian territory.”