Turkish-backed armed groups burn the house of a writer in Ras al-Ain
Qamishli – North-Press Agency
Avin Sheikhmous
Once the Turkish military and its affiliated armed opposition groups entered the city of Sere-Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), they began to reveal their real intentions towards the local inhabitants, where they burned their houses and changed the features of their city.
Sere-Kaniye, a city that was usurped twice, the first time was about six years ago, where the local people faced the armed opposition groups and defended their lands, neighborhoods, houses, memories and heritage. The second time was by the military invasion of the Turkish military and the Turkish-backed armed groups, people of Sere-Kaniye were displaced whereas these armed groups carried out the most terrible looting and killing operations.
Author Nariman Evdeki from Sere-Kaniye spoke to North-Press about the burning of her house in Ronahi neighborhood and about the bond of love and belonging to her city, and how they defended the city since the first moment of the Turkish attack. “We, as women were forced to leave our house, but my father insisted on staying and he stood by the people to defend the city, opening our house to all those in need of rest and food, since that day until the second day of our departure, that door was not closed," Nariman said.
The door that was left open to all its visitors, so that the people of the neighborhood and everyone who knew that house which extends for 70 years was called the House of People. The neighbors when they wanted to have coffee with my mother, they were not knocking on the door, but they entered by pushing the door knowing that it was opened in advance to receive visitors, as they knew the time of gathering at the house yard. Evdeki family was distinguished by its obsession with collecting books and all that is related to the cultural heritage. The author said: "We have many stories of our books, when we designed a library, it didn't fit them due to their large numbers which reached about a thousand titles in many languages, Syriac, Arabic, English, Persian and Kurdish, so we put some of them in the attic.”
Nariman did not realize that one day, some militant groups would come to destroy the spirit of coexistence, peace, the free thought of their home- town and the platform of every intellectual with thirst for these books. After leaving their home forcibly, the writer's family received a phone call from a neighbor who returned to the city after the Turkish invasion, telling them that the house was completely burned by Turkey’s backed armed groups.
She pauses for a while, then continues, "When we left our house, I thought for a few moments if I could get it on my back and leave, but I thought after that even if I could, I wouldn't do it because I didn’t want to disavow Sere-Kaniye.”
"I left the smallest pieces and all my memories, even my clothes and so did my brothers, for the same reason we didn’t want to disavow our city, and if the whole house is burned, it’s better than to carry it with me.”
Evdeki added: "It is our city, as we hope to go back and return since the house is like a stone to be rebuilt again, but where are our memories, our dreams and all our peculiarities..?"
It is worth noting that when the Islamic State group (ISIS) attacked the areas of northern Syria, it covered the cities with black flags and took revenge on everything that violated its alleged legitimacy at the time, by its bloody thoughts and killing. Today, after the Turkish military and its affiliated armed groups took control over the areas of northern Syria, they are following the same methods, as burning the house of Nariman Evdeki is an example of those violations again