People in Syria’s Qamishli protest to denounce Jindires crime
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Hundreds of people protested on Wednesday in the city of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, to denounce the heinous crime committed by Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), in Jindires, northwest Syria.
Hussein al-Sada, member of Democratic Union Party (PYD), demanded, in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Qamishli, during the protests, that the United States (US) and UN must put pressure on Turkey to initiate an international investigation about the crime.
On March 20, militants of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a faction affiliated with the SNA, killed five Kurds and wounded others in Jindires for celebrating Newroz.
The incident was followed by local and international angry reactions, calling for holding perpetrators accountable for the incident and removing the injustice in areas under the SNA factions’ control and demilitarize the region.
Thousands of Jindires and nearby villages took to streets, demanding perpetrators be held accountable and the expulsion of SNA factions from the region.
Al-Sada said, “We denounce the killing of the Kurds in Afrin only because they celebrated their occasion.”
IDPs from Afrin region, northwest Syria, and officials of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) participated in the protests.
Khalil Na’san, IDP from Afrin, said that the international community should punish those who committed the crime.
“Civilians who live in their house on their own land cannot celebrate their national day in front of their houses; the world must see this injustice,” Na’san added.
Suliman Arab, co-chair of Local Administration Body of al-Jazira Region, of the AANES, said that the crime “is a result of hundreds of massacres and violations against our people in Afrin region that has been occupied for more than five years.”
The official called for uncovering the practices and violations that were carried out against the people of Afrin through committees affiliated with the UN to end the Turkish occupation of the region and return its original residents.