URFA - Stating that citizens who were forcibly displaced from Afrin live in Shehba, where Turkey threatened to attack, Journalist Sîpan Cûdî said that the people who were brought from different parts of Syria were settled in the areas under Turkish invasion.
While violations of rights and serious crimes against humanity in the Northern and Eastern Syrian city of Afrin, under Turkish invasion since January 20, 2018, continues, Turkey began to threaten Til Rifat in Shehba, where thousands of people displaced from Afrin took shelter. While AKP President Tayyip Erdoğan said at his party's group meeting that an attack will be carried out in Manbij and Til Rifat, the area around the Shehba Camp, located in the Aleppo-Dilok trade route, is being shelled by Turkey. Located approximately 500 meters from the second largest Russian base in Shehba canton, the camp also hosts 300 immigrant families from the rural population of Afrin and Aleppo.
Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reporter Sîpan Cûdî, who has been working as a journalist in Shehba for many years, evaluated the developments in the region and the attitude of the people of Afrin against the new attacks to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA).
UNINTERRUPTED RESISTANCE OF PEOPLE
Stating that thousands of people from Afrin had to migrate to Shehba, Cûdî said: "There are 5 refugee camps in Shehba Canton. The people who migrated live in difficult conditions. The people of Afrin have been forced to live in towns and villages in ruined houses; however, despite everything, the people of Afrin have been resisting uninterruptedly for 4 years.”
THE WORLD REMAINS SILENT
Stating that they continue their journalistic activities in the region under difficult conditions, Cûdî said: “We have announced to the world public the violations of rights that the people of Afrin have been subjected to. Human rights are being violated for 4 years in the occupied areas in Afrin. Thousands of people were killed and abducted. Every day we wake up to a new violation. Although we share these violations of rights, the world public remains silent. International powers do not want to see the violations of rights committed by Turkey and its mercenaries. We became the voice of not only those who migrated from Afrin, but also those who had to stay in Afrin despite everything."
RESISTANCE OF PEOPLE ARE UNDER ATTACK AND EMBARGO
Underlining that there is an uninterrupted resistance in Shehba despite all the oppression and difficulties, Cûdî said: “People staying in tent camps face many difficulties. In the face of these difficulties, the region is bombed every day by Turkey and the gangs it supports. This bombardment has continued uninterruptedly for 4 years. In addition to the attacks, there is an embargo by the Damascus government in the region. We are having problems bringing food to the camps. However, the people insist on resisting. They say they will not stop resisting no matter what. We, the journalists, who are among the public, witness what they go through every day and we see their determination."
‘THE PEOPLE KNOW THE ENEMY WELL’
Emphasizing that the aim of the attacks was to end the hope of the people displaced from Afrin to return, Cûdî said, “However, the people are persistent, they will not stop resisting no matter what, even if the region is bombed every day. This resistance will continue until they return to Afrin. Many massacres have been carried out by Turkey and the groups it supports in Shehba in the last 4 years. Many children and women lost their lives in these massacres. The people living in the region have learned a lesson from the previous attacks against the region. This people has recognized the enemy. They have learned lessons from previous attacks. The public knows the enemy well. What happened in Afrin, Gre Spi, and Serekanîye is out there for all of us to see. We see what they are doing in the invaded areas. They want to change the demography. People brought from different parts of Syria are being settled in the areas invaded by Turkey and the groups affiliated with it."
'PEOPLE ARE READY FOR WAR'
Referring to the "new Ottoman dreams" of Turkey and reminding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan mentioned "plans to create a safe zone" in his attacks on the region, Cûdî said: "It is not possible to talk about security in any of the regions they invaded. Not a single day has passed without violation of rights in the regions they invaded for 4 years. Erdogan has increased his threats of attacks in the last two weeks. Erdoğan wants to use the refugees for his benefit in the upcoming elections. However, the people are organising with their own power under the bombardment and embargo. The people of Shehba are ready for a revolutionary people's war. There are martyr mothers here; They say that they can live without their children, but never without their land. The people of Afrin are resisting in Shehba, and international powers should no longer remain silent about Turkey's unlawfulness and must hold Turkey accountable for what it has done."
MA / Emrullah Acar