Women protest against Turkish attacks on northern Syria

Women in the city of Kobani, northern Syria, protest against Turkish attacks on the region – North Press
Women in the city of Kobani, northern Syria, protest against Turkish attacks on the region – North Press

MANBIJ, Syria (North Press) – Women’s organizations in Kobani and Manbij, northern Syria, condemned on Wednesday the Turkish bombing of northern Syria in separate statements.

The Women’s Coordination, which includes several women’s organizations, in the Executive Council of Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), in Kobani denounced the Turkish targeting of civilians with drones and the continued bombing of northeastern Syria.

The statement read, “Turkey is trying to occupy Syrian territory under the pretext of protecting its national security, while it in reality is targeting and killing civilians with its drones to destabilize the region.”

A day before, a Turkish drone targeted a vehicle belonging to the AANES in the village of Beyandur, east of the city of Qamishli, northeast Syria.

The attack killed the Co-chair of the Qamishli Region Council, Yusra Darwish; the Deputy Co-chair, Leyman Shouish; and their driver, Farat Toma; as well as injuring the other Co-chair, Gabi Shamoun, on their way to visiting AANES institutions.

The statement added that the attacks coincide with the AANES’s announcement of its intention to start the trial of leaders and militants of Islamic State (ISIS), noting that “Turkey does not want this to happen, so that the truth and hidden hands behind ISIS do not appear.”

In another statement, the Women of Zenobia Gathering in Manbij, an organization concerned with women’s affairs, condemned the Turkish attacks and its targeting of women, especially those who participated in the war against ISIS and were able to manage the region after the war.

The statements rejected the international community’s silence towards the Turkish attacks and called on the international guarantor parties to impose an air embargo on northern and eastern Syria and to fulfill their responsibility and duty towards the region.

Since June 12, Turkey has escalated its shelling and drone strikes against northern Syria, targeting 35 sites with more than 50 projectiles, and causing the loss of dozens of lives, according to a tally by the Monitoring and Documentation Department at North Press.

Reporting by Fattah Issa