155 organizations condemn killing of Kurds in Syria’s Jinidres – STJ
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Following the crime committed by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) on the eve of Newroz in Jindires in northwest Syria, 155 Syrian organizations signed a statement, condemning the crime, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) said on Friday.
This came in a press release in which the STJ said that the signatories express their solidarity with families of the four “unarmed Kurdish civilians,” whom the SNA militants shot for igniting the Newroz flame.
On the eve of Newroz, March 20, members of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a faction operating within the Turkish-backed SNA, opened fire on local residents celebrating the Kurdish holiday in Jindires town in the Afrin region, northwestern Syria, killing four. What could be categorized as another episode of otherwise near-systematic anti-Kurdish violence in Turkish-occupied areas of Syria may yet have profound consequences.
The statement added that the 155 organizations called on “all the inhabitants in Afrin, both natives and the displaced, to synergize to counter human rights violations committed by SNA armed groups and urge them to reject attempts to create a rift between local communities in Syria.”
It noted that this attack is not the first of its kind to happen in the areas occupied by Turkey in Afrin, Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), and Tel Abyad.
“Several independent local and international organizations and UN commissions have documented repeated and systematic patterns of human rights violations,” the statement read.
The crime took place at a time when Jindires, the most affected area in Syria due to the disaster of the Feb. 6 earthquake, faces challenges in healing from the earthquake impacts.
Afrin, including Jindires, has been under the occupation of the Turkish forces and their affiliated SNA factions since March 2018 following the so-called “Olive Branch” military operation to push away the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting “Turkish national security.”
The operation caused the displacement of about 300.000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.
The signatory organizations called on the UN to take all necessary measures to protect the civilians in Afrin and throughout Syria and immediately cease the massive violations against them.
They also called on the UN to pressure Turkey as an occupying power to assume its legal responsibilities in ensuring public order and safety, and to stop the demographic changes in Afrin, Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad.