Calmness prevails in Syria’s Sere Kaniye after intensive protests
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in the northwestern countryside of Hasakah Governorate, northeast Syria, witnesses a state of cautious and calmness after three days of protests.
The state of calmness came after three days of strike and protests, rejecting insecurity in the city.
The strike coincided with ceremonies of mourning Muhammad Barhawi, a goldsmith in the city, who was shot dead on June 30 by two unknown attackers in front of his house in the city center.
Residents of Sere Kaniye suffer from increasing stealing cases and fighting among Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), over prosperities of the original inhabitants, according to human rights organizations.
In October 2019, Turkish forces, with the support of the SNA factions, launched the military operation “Peace Spring” against Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad under the pretext of pushing the fighters of the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) away from the Turkish border with Syria.
As a result, they seized many areas in the abovementioned areas and displaced approximately 300,000 civilians, human rights reports said.
The Turkish-occupied areas in north and northeastern Syria continue to witness a state of security chaos and instability amid the SNA factions’ inability to maintain the situation.
Some videos were circulated on Social media for protestors, chanting several chants including, “Peace Spring is unsafe” to denote the reality in which they live.
One of the videos shows Hamada Barhawi, son of the victim, talking about the situation of his family after the death of his father and the lack of safety in the region.
On the second day of the protests, Civil Police, affiliated with the SNA, arrested Khaled al-Deif, a shop owner in the city, during the protests, on charges of chanting slogans against the factions.
During the protests, a Turkish patrol intercepted the protestors who throw stones at it, one video showed.
This coincided with similar protests in Tel Half area, west of Sere Kaniye, against the backdrop of the decision to close pharmacies and keep a few of them, which prompted the Civil Police to beat the protesters.
At the same day, gunmen of the aforementioned factions shot a child selling ice cream because he refused to give them ice cream for free, where the child lost his life in one of the Turkish hospitals.
Some of social media pages reported that when the child’s body was returned to his family, some of his organs were not in his body.
However, this is not confirmed, as the family has not announced anything yet.
On June 27, Sere Kaniye market witnessed a strike by owners of food stores, after the militants of the Turkish-backed factions stole a warehouse near a checkpoint of the civil police, according to local media agencies.
A member of the Turkish-backed al-Hamza Division was accused that had previously robbed several shops, according to the same source.
Public discontent
Residents of Sere Kaniye consider that they can be murdered at any moment, as murders have increased significantly in the past period, especially in light of the spread of factional fighting, the last of occurred between akidat tribe and al-Hamzat Division.
A while ago, the so-called Local Council raised the price of each bundle of bread to three instead of two Turkish Liras, for a bundle containing 9 loaves, leading to a state of popular resentment.
These protests and strikes are not the first in Sere Kaniye since Turkey occupied it in 2019, but they are the most severe events the city has ever witnessed.