NEWS CENTER- Kurdish commanders and administrators who led the fight against ISIS which massacred thousands of people, forced millions into migration and held thousands of girls and women captive are being targeted by Turkey.
Turkey is targeting the Zap, Avaşîn and Metina regions in the Federated Kurdistan Region, as well as the Northern and Eastern Syrian cities and Makhmur and Shengal. Many civilians and defense forces, including children, have lost their lives in the attacks carried out by Turkish drones. In the recent attacks, the Kurds, who are the pioneers of the fight against ISIS, are targeted.
PIONEERS OF THE STRUGGLE ARE AT TARGETED
The cities of Northern and Eastern Syria are at the forefront of the places where Turkey attacks frequently. After the internal conflict that started in 2011, a new life began to be built there under the leadership of the Kurds, and it became the safest region of the country. Especially after the epic struggle against ISIS in Kobanê, the eyes of the whole world turned to the system being built there. However, after the defeat of ISIS, Turkey started trying to eliminate the autonomous structure.
Turkey took Afrin under its control with its paramilitary forces with the operation it called "Operation Olive Branch" on January 20, 2018. On October 9, 2019, Turkey attacked Girê Spi and Serêkaniyê under with another operation it calls "Operation Peace Spring", which was approved by the USA and Russia under the pretext of a "Buffer Zone". Turkey continued its attacks here after the operations. While continuing the artillery fire on the villages, Turkey targets the commanders organising the fight against ISIS.
At least 39 people lost their lives in Turkey's drone attacks between the years 2020-2022.
SHENGAL IS RESISTING
Shengal, one of the places where a great struggle took place against ISIS, is also frequently targeted by Turkey. After ISIS captured Mosul without encountering any resistance, it launched an attack on Shengal, home of the Yazidis, on August 3, 2014. While the Iraqi army and KDP peshmerga fled the region, Yazidis were massacred. After the attacks, approximately 400 thousand Yazidis living in Shengal left their homes and lands. During the migration, 280 people died of hunger and thirst. Around 6 thousand people were abducted. Hundreds of Yazidis, many of them women, are still missing.
A group of People's Defense Forces (HPG) and People's Defense Units (YPG) came to the aid of the Yazidis. These forces, who managed to provide safe passage for thousands of Yazidis to the safe area with the corridor they opened, then liberated Shengal with their war against ISIS. The Yazidis started to form their own self-defense forces, and as a first step they established Shengal Resistance Units (Yekîneyên Berxwedana Shingal-YBŞ) and Yazidi Women's Units (Yekinêyen Jinên Êzidxan-YJE).
However, the leaders of the Yazidis are being assassinated by Turkey today. Many YBŞ and YJE members, including Zeki Şengali, a member of Shengal Êzidî Coordination, lost their lives in Turkey's attacks. In addition to the assassinations, Turkey is constantly carrying out airstrikes on the parliament buildings established by the Yazidis. However, despite this, Yazidis do not leave their lands and defend an autonomous structure.
Some of the attacks carried out by Turkey against the commanders and administrators who have been organising the fight against ISIS since 2018 are as follows:
August 15, 2018: Zeki Şengali (Ismail Özden), a member of the Shengal Êzidî Coordination, died as a result of the assassination in which he was targeted in his vehicle, on the return of the ceremony held in memory of those who lost their lives on the anniversary of the Koço village massacre in Shengal. He was a person who struggled for the organisation of the Yazidi people in Şengalî, Şêxan and many cities for years. Şengali returned to Shengal after the ISIS massacre and assumed the leadership of the struggle there.
March 23, 2019: MLKP Rojava Representative Bayram Namaz (Baran Serhat) died as a result of the detonation of an explosive that Turkey and paramilitary forces placed in his car.
August 16, 2021: YBŞ Commander Seid Hesen and his nephew, YBŞ fighter İsa Xwededa, were killed in the reconnaissance aircraft attack. Hesen led the organisation of the Yazidis for years and served as a commander for the self-defense of the Yazidis. She became one of the people who fought on the front lines against the massacre against the Yazidis.
August 19, 2021: As a result of the bombing of the Til Temir Military Council, YPJ General Command and SDF General Command member Sosin Birhat (Sosin Muhammed) lost her life.
November 9, 2021: Yusuf Gulo, 85, from the Gulo family, and his grandchildren, Mazlum and Mihemed Gulo, lost their lives as a result of Turkey's drone attack against the Hilêliyê Neighborhood, west of Qamishlo. Gulo and his grandchildren were buried in Qamishlo with a ceremony participated by tens of thousands of people. Yusuf Gulo met the PKK in the 1980s and met with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan many times during these years, both in Syria and Lebanon. Five members of the Gulo family who joined the PKK lost their lives on different dates. Eight children of Gulo, who was at the forefront during the Rojava Revolution, lost their lives.
December 7, 2021: Shengal Governing Council Co-chair Merwan Bedel lost his life in a drone attack on his car in Xanesor district of Shengal. Bedel's two children survived.
January 21, 2022: A drone attack was carried out on the Geliyê Şîlo Region of Shengal. YBŞ commanders Sileman Shemo Yusuf and Enver Tolhildan lost their lives as a result of the attack.
May 11, 2022: Ekrem Istek (50) was killed in the attack on the south of Kobanê. İstek joined the revolution process as part of the mobilisation call made in response to the ISIS attack on Kobanê in 2014. İstek, who is married and has two children, was arrested in Turkey in the 1990s and spent 10 years in prison. One son of İstek is still in prison.
May 30, 2022: YPJ fighter Mizgîn Botan (Rahime Xezalî) lost her life along with a civilian named Kesra Melek in a drone attack in Qamishlo. Botan joined the ranks of the YPJ upon the call for mobilisation during the war against ISIS and took part in the front lines of the revolution here.
April 1, 2022: Dirar Cuma Hamza died as a result of the targeting of a vehicle belonging to the Self-Defense Forces near Tirbespiyê. Famous poet Ferhad Merde and 2 other people survived the attack with injuries.
April 3, 2022: The vehicle carrying Orm Maruki, a member of the Assyrian Military Council Command, was bombed by a drone. Maruki survived the attack with injuries.
17 June 2022: As a result of the targeting of a car in the Kelar district of Sulaymaniyah, 4 people lost their lives. It was announced that one of those who lost their lives was Ferhat Şibli, Vice President of the Rojava Autonomous Administration Executive Council. Şibli carried out political work for Kurdish gains in many parts of Syria. Despite being injured, Şibli shy away from the struggle, and took part in the organisation of the Makhmur Camp for a while. Şibli, who moved to Northern and Eastern Syria again in 2000, took part in organisational, political and social activities.
July 22, 2022: On the road to Qamishlo, the vehicle in which the Anti-Terrorist Forces (YAT) commanders Jiyan Tolhildan and the commander Roj Xabûr and YAT member Barîn Botan was travelling, was targeted. Three women, among the pioneers of the Rojava Revolution, also lost their lives. Jiyan Tolhildan, one of the YPJ commanders, was the YPJ Deir ez-Zor Field Commander during the Cizre Storm operation in the Baxoz village of the Hajin town of Deir ez-Zor, which was launched in 2019 with the aim of ending ISIS. Tolhildan attended the ceremony held for the physical end of ISIS from the region in those days and said, "We do not recognize the borders and we will end this persecution no matter what."
