North and East Syria administration, officials, and political parties mark second anniversary of Turkish invasion and occupation

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — On 9 October, the second anniversary of the Turkish invasion of North and East Syria which displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA), and political parties marked the day with statements condemning Turkey’s invasion and continued aggression.

The SDC noted that the aggression of Turkey and its Syrian National Army (SNA) proxies have killed hundreds dead and even more wounded — both military personnel and civilians — and the extensive damage of vital infrastructure.

War crimes have committed and a policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by Turkey, said the SDC, adding that huge numbers of families of SNA members, mostly from other parts of the country, have been settled in the homes of displaced people.

The SDC announced that it will continue to commemorate the resistance of dignity in Rish Ayno (Ras al-Ayn) and Tel Abyad and called on the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to assume their responsibility and act to end the Turkish occupation of North and East Syria, including the northwestern province of Cafrin (Afrin).

The DAA stated that the Turkish presence in Syria has done nothing for the Syrian people and has only benefited extremist groups, a “poisoned dagger in the Syrian body”. Without a solution to the Turkish occupation, said the DAA statement, there will be no stability in Syria.

The Syriac Union Party (SUP) also issued a statement condemning the Turkish invasion and occupation which has also displaced the people from the predominantly Syriac–Assyrian Khabur River Valley.

The statement condemned the murder, kidnapping, and theft of property endemic in the occupied territories which are a gross violation of the rights of the indigenous population.

“With the continuation of this status quo, the suffering of the displaced people is worsening, but they hope that this bitter situation will disappear and return safely to their homes,” read the statement.

“The SUP condemns the Turkish aggression against the regions of North and East Syria and considers it a new threat towards expanding its control and a new mass displacement of the indigenous population,” the statement continued. “It also destabilizes the region, creates new wars and prevents any political solution that the Syrians can agree on.”

The SUP appealed to international community to stand firmly against these Turkish policies and violations, calling for an end the occupation and allow the safe return of the people of the Khabur, Rish Ayno, Tel Abyad, Cafrin, and other regions.

It also called on the international community to pressure Turkey to release the three fighters of the Syriac Military Council (Mawthbo Folhoyo Suryoyo, MFS) taken prisoner by Turkish forces and illegal transported across the border into Turkey for trial.