Turkey violates the agreement signed with Russia – Autonomous Administration in the Euphrates Region

KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – Muhammad Shaheen, the co-chair of the Executive Council in the Euphrates Region, said that the Turkish attack on the village of Helinj, east of Kobani, is considered a violation of the Sochi agreement, in which the SDF withdrew 30 kilometers from the Syrian-Turkish border.

He added that "the task of maintaining security and stability in the Kobani region is the responsibility of the Russian military and police forces."

On October 22nd last year, when Turkey with its affiliated armed opposition groups took over Sere Kaniye and Tal Abyad, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Erdogan reached a memorandum of understanding through which a ceasefire in the area was stipulated, provided that the SDF will withdraw from the border strip at a distance of 32 kilometers.

Earlier, on Tuesday, a Turkish plane bombed a house in the Helinj village in the southeastern countryside of Kobani, killing four women including a feminist activist.

Shaheen said in a statement to North Press that the violation is not the first by Turkey, "what Turkey did is its second operation in the past two months, as an Internal Security Forces’ center in the city of Kobani was targeted by a drone two months ago."

He added that Turkey commits violations almost daily through the border and the terrorist groups that target the region."

He pointed out that the Autonomous Administration is committed to its part of the agreement, "but Turkey violates the agreement concluded with Russia from time to time, whether by targeting civilians across the border, or through operations conducted by mercenaries  affiliated with Turkey that attack the region, in addition to using drones to target the region."

 Shaheen held Russia responsible for these violations, "being in direct control of the security and stability in the region."

Shaheen noted that the repetition of violations and targeting of the region "threatens of the failure of the agreement and warns of a war by Turkey against the region."

According to Shaheen, the Autonomous  Administration will ask Russia to clarify this violation and the targeting that occurred on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Fattah Issa, editing by Lucas Chapman)