Turkish assaults cause family from NE Syria to lose beloved ones, suffer
IDP family from Sere Kaniye residing in Tel Tamr - North Press
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – As Turkish artillery was shelling villages north of the town of Tel Tamr north of Hasakah, 75-year-old Ahmad al-Heshi, roamed slowly across a yard in his house that he has lately taken refuge to.
Al-Heshi expressed his fears of a new Turkish military escalation that could deepen his sufferings.
Two months ago, the man arrived with his family at the village of Tel Nasri south of Tel Tamr, which is their third displacement after they left their village al-Sibatiyah south of Sere Kaniye, three years ago following the attack of the Turkish forces their affiliated Syrian opposition factions.
At an old mud home, al-Heshi who looks older than he is, narrates his tale as he is sitting on a small iron-made chair.
In October 2019, the Turkish forces and their affiliated factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA) began the invasion of Sere Kaniye and Tal Abyad, but the man had never imagined that the war could reach his village situated on the M4 Highway.
As war dragged on and reached his village, the family was obliged to flee under dropping shells, heading to the area of Mount Abdulaziz, where one of his relatives resides, knowing nothing about their village.
Losing a brother
Al-Heshi told North Press his tale and recalled the last moments he spent at home before forcibly leaving, “It was horrible, shells were falling on nearby villages, everyone was running away, actually, it was a real tragedy.”
Next to him his 70-year-old wife Ano Abied sits on a stair narrating woes of displacement when they left the village, leaving everything behind.
The family presumably thought that it was a matter of few days, but three years have lapsed.
The suffering of the family did not stop here. Following their exit from the village, al-Heshi’s younger brother was reported killed by a bullet fired by the Turkish-backed factions as he tried to return home to bring some needs, he did not know that militants were already there.
What makes the story more tragic is that they could not retrieve the body of his brother. Ano said- trying to hold back her tears- “He did not know that it [the village] was not empty.”
After spending seven months in Mount Abdulaziz region, the family headed to the village of Gheibish west of Tel Tamr, searching for a job in light of the drought sweeping the region and being unable to raise livestock the main source of the family for its living.
Al-Heshi’s 60-year-old younger brother “Ibrahim” headed to the village of Selmasa west of Tel Tamr in order to secure a posture for his flock, thus, the family was dispersed.
Loss of another brother
Gheibish was not the family’s final destination. After two years, late at midnight, the village was open to violent artillery shelling by the Turkish forces, forcing the family again to flee two months ago.
With the help of people of the region, the family went to the Assyrian village of Tel Nasri, which is replete with IDPs from Tel Tamr and Sere Kaniye, as its Assyrian original residents left due to the attacks of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) seven years ago.
While Ahmad’s family was trying to overcome the woes of disappointment, they were shocked to hear the other brother Ibrahim lost his life on August 9 in another Turkish shelling of Selmasa.
As their plight trails, the family still is open to danger to witness a new journey of displacement amid the recent Turkish escalation on the region of Tel Tamr and threats with a new invasion.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently announced plans to carry out another major military cross-border incursion into northern Syria. Erdogan specified his targets in the two northern Syrian cities of Manbij and Tel Rifaat.
On July 1, Erdogan said that Ankara’s new military operation in northern Syria could begin at any moment.
“The time has come to clear these lands from the terrorist organizations,” Erdogan threatened during Tehran Summit.
Tehran Summit, on July 19, brought together presidents of each of Iran, Russia and Turkey with the Syrian issue and Turkish threats on the top of its agenda.
As he wonders, al-Heshi said that he has been displaced three times in three years, as he do not known to where he would take his family in case situation gets more deteriorating.
While his wife did not conceal her concerns over the resounding sounds of the Turkish shelling in the region, she reveals that her family is terrified of shelling.
She fears for her children when going to work and shelling resumes, fearing that they will not return.
IDP’s life is difficult
Amid such a difficult situation, the family is stuck between a rock and a hard place as there are no job opportunities that could provide them with an earning.
Al-Heshi’s family used to raise flocks and work on fields before leaving their village as the de facto bitter reality prevails itself.
The wife that can hardly sits and stands up went further saying that their economic situation is gravely difficult, as her children work in a gas station that hardly makes them subsidize.
The house roughly accommodates the family members. All al-Heshi’s sons along with their wives live in the same house. They lament the house they lost in their village.
The woman that painfully glares at her grandsons, playing nearby said that displacement is difficult, with every move her heart crunches.
Fearing new displacement and losing beloved ones due to the escalation of the Turkish forces; however, the family is all hope to return one day to the village they left three years ago.