RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Issa al-Omar, an IDP from the Turkish-occupied city of Tel Abyad in northern Syria, is worried about the fate of his property, which was dispossessed of him due to Turkey’s military operation in 2019.
Al-Omar left behind about 400 acres of farmland in his village in the countryside of Tel Abyad when the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), supported by Turkey in occupying it in 2019 during a military operation called “Peace Spring”.
“Erdogan has caused us a lot of trouble, the people who live there wish to die every single moment,” al-Omar told North Press.
In a tent with six meters long and three meters wide, al-Omar lives in Tel al-Samen camp, 35 km north of the city of Raqqa, with his wife and nine children.
“Now Erdogan threatens and vows to expand the region and wants to establish a safe zone,” al-Omar said.
He stressed that the settlements that Turkey seeks to build in the region only serve its interests, “The purpose of the safe zone is a demographic change, and the purpose of the demographic change is the annexation of more lands to Turkey.”
In October 2019, Turkish forces along with SNA launched the “Peace Spring” military operation against the areas of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad.
About 300.000 original inhabitants were forced to flee their houses, as others were killed and wounded as a result of the operation, according to the statistics of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
Human rights reports say that approximately 175.000 people have been displaced from the area between Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad, in which the Turkish president claimed to establish a safe zone.
Tel Abyad IDPs in Tel al-Samen camp, which includes 6.000 displaced people from Tel Abyad, fear including their properties within the Turkish settlement project announced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On May 23, Erdogan announced taking steps to complete the so-called remained portions of the “safe zone” plan along Turkey’s southern border saying, “We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete portions of the project we started on the 30 km deep safe zone we established along our southern border.”
The Turkish “safe zone” is an area of 30-35 km (19-22 miles) deep into Syrian territory that Turkey started establishing 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.
The Turkish announcement of the settlement project sparked resentment among Syrians, especially the original inhabitants of the areas that will be included in the Turkish project.
Over the past two years, many Turkish organizations, such as the Turkish Religious Endowment, AFAD organization and the Humanitarian Relief Authority, have worked to build dozens of settlements in several areas in the northern countryside of Idlib and Aleppo.
Like many other IDPs, Yassin Assaf, an IDP in Tel al-Samen camp, lost all his property in his village of Hamam al-Turkman in the countryside of Tel Abyad after occupying it by Turkey and the SNA.
The man fears losing his property forever in light of Turkey’s efforts to deport Syrian refugees to the areas belonging to those who displaced due to the Turkish occupation.
During his displacement, Assaf left his house, three shops, 80 acres of lands, and a car wash, “Now the Syrian free army is controlling my house and all other properties.”