Civilians who have been forcibly displaced in northeastern Syria as a consequence of the attacks by Turkish-backed mercenaries spoke to Hawar News Agency. They reported that the mercenaries had pillaged their villages and were refusing to let them re-enter them.

The demography of the occupied regions in northern and eastern Syria has changed drastically ever since Turkish forces accompanied by allied mercenaries seized control of these areas. Education in the Turkish language has been imposed in the schools of the occupied villages even as several villagers have been forcibly displaced.

Silêman Biro Salih had to flee from his village Dawûdiyê, in Ras al-Ayn (Serêkaniyê) in northeastern Syria, as a result of the occupation. “The Turkish state and their mercenaries came into our village with tanks, taking over our homes. They pillaged everything we had in our homes. They have turned our village into a military base. The name of our village was changed to Yahudiye (a reference to the word ‘Jewish’ in Turkish). They did not even allow the funeral of an elderly villager to take place: they did not allow him to be buried in the village”, he noted.

İbrahim Salim also was forcibly displaced from his village Erîşa due to the attacks of the Turkish state. “When I wanted to return”, he reported, “the mercenaries did not let me enter my own village. It isn’t just me: none of the villagers were allowed to return. All we had was pillaged”.

“The people here have been forced to migrate. The international community follows what is happening around here but is silent. The United Nations (UN) listed only a few of the crimes that have been committed here by the Turkish state. They continue to kidnap and kill people in the occupied regions. Everybody should act against the crimes that have been – and are being – committed here by the Turkish state”, Salim said. He appealed to the international community to raise its voice against the humanitarian crisis that is engulfing Syria.