“Turkey wants to restore the glories of the Ottomans, this will not be realized on our land” – ” – Shaddadi women

Al-Shaddadi- North-Press Agency

Bassem Shuwaikh

Old women from the town of al-Shaddadi, south of Hasakah in northeastern Syria, have expressed their attachment to their land in the face of the Turkish aspirations to restore the glories of the Ottoman Empire and the “Turkicization” of the Syrian identity, while continuing to change the Syrian demography. North-Press met with Najma Hammouda, an elder woman from Shaddadi, who said that Turkey wants to occupy the region and displace the local people.

She said: "Turkey has occupied the region for more than 400 years, carried out massacres at the of the Ottoman ancestors, and now it wants to restore the history of its ancestors, but we will not allow Turkey to occupy any inch of our land.”

In the same context, Turfa al-Taan, an elderly woman in al-Shaddadi said: "Even we the elderly, we will stand in the face of those who attack our land; meanwhile, Turkey continues to commit massacres against civilians, especially the Armenian Genocide.”

Moreover, Ghazala al-Allawi said that Turkey's affiliated armed opposition groups had stolen and looted the properties of civilians who had been forcibly displaced, adding that they would not give up their land, and that the Sultanate's dream will not be realized at all costs.

It is noteworthy that some families from Ras al-Ain (Sere-Kaniye) have resorted to the area of al-Shaddadi, where they live difficult living conditions; most of them came out of the city without bringing anything, just the clothes that they they wear, as a result of the intensity of the Turkish bombardment on the area.