International committees must expose Turkey’s crimes in Syria – Politicians
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – On Thursday, Syrian political parties in northeastern Syria called for international committees to enter the region to review ongoing Turkish assaults.
Abdurrahman al-Issa, a Syrian politician, said that the continuous Turkish escalation on the region threatens hundreds of thousands in northeastern Syria.
The continuous Turkish shelling and assaults “place a moral responsibility of protecting the people of the region on shoulders of the world,” al-Issa added.
The international community must stop turning a blind eye to Turkey’s criminal acts, he went further saying.
He stressed, in an interview with North Press, that the UN Security Council should address the Turkish assaults against Syria, since Turkey is a member of the UN, and the council should issue a decision that forces Turkey to stop its attacks.
He said that deploying the UN forces on contact lines between areas held by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and those held by Turkey can contribute to end the Turkish attacks.
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
The politician stressed that during the recent three years, “guarantor states [the US and Russia] as well as joint patrols in the region failed to restrain Turkey from targeting civilians.”
Following the Turkish incursion in October 2019, Turkey signed two ceasefire agreements, one with Russia and the other with the US stipulating ceasing all hostilities, the withdrawal of the SDF 32 km away from the Turkish border, and running joint patrols with Russia.
The SDF did withdrew from the border areas according to the agreement, but Turkey continues targeting the area.
Since signing the two agreements, 108th Russian-Turkish joint patrols have been launched, as Turkey continues attacking civilians of the region.
Kamel Ward, another politician, said, “The need for international delegations to enter [northeast Syria] has become a matter of urgency in order to review the situation on ground and document the Turkish violations against Syrian residents and territory.”
Ward told North Press that the persistent Turkish military escalation on the Syrian soil “threatens stability, raises resident’s concern and affects economic and living situations.”
He pointed out that the AANES must pay extensive diplomatic efforts to expose Turkey’s practices to world public opinion and refute baseless accusations made by Turkey in order to carry out its aggression while ignoring the fate of civilians.”
He also called for Syrians to unify their stance against the Turkish actions through dialogue between all parties of conflict in Syria based on the UN Resolution No. 2254.