ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of Kurds have protested the recent death of four celebrants of the Kurdish New Year, Newroz, in Syria’s Jindris city, calling for the expulsion of Turkey-backed armed groups.
Ankara-backed fighters of the Ahrar al-Sharqiya armed militia opened gunfire on a Kurdish family celebrating Newroz in Jindires on Monday, killing at least four people and wounding two others.
Thousands of Kurds have been gathering in front of the house of the victims in Jindris, calling for the international community to intervene.
“We call on the United Nations to enter Rojava. We do not want mercenaries. Viva Kurdistan,” said a protester loudly, addressing the protesters.
A number of Arab dignitaries have also attended the funeral of the deceased Kurds.
“Where have you been our Islamic councils and sheikhs in the last five years as our rights have been violated, olive trees have been cut, our houses have been destroyed? You did not even publish a statement,” said another Kurdish protesters, addressing the Arabs dignitaries.
“Armed groups have entered Afrin with their bloody hands. The hands of all groups are bloody. 280 people have been persecuted, 60 women are jailed by these groups and 21 children are being persecuted. Where are your Islanim values? Afrin is not free but invaded by groups.”
Ahmed Hassan is a member of the Kurdish opposition group, Kurdish National Council (ENKS).
He told the crowd that the armed groups have to leave the populated areas.
“We call for the expulsion of armed groups from the Afrin region. The fighters should not be in cities and villages, but their camps and frontlines. We call for the release of all those people who have been arrested without a reason in the last five years,” he said.
The family of the dead has released a statement, calling for the punishment of the perpetrators and the transfer of the case to an international court.
Thousands of Kurds protested against the deadly incident in Paris. Ibrahim Muslim is a lawyer. He called on France to intervene in Afrin and other Kurdish areas in Syria.
There have been protests in front of the United Nations office in Erbil as well in the last two days.
"We spoke with the UN authorities and conveyed the message of the protesting people to them. They assured us that they will make our voice heard by the relevant authorities," Othman Menan, a member of the ENKS, told Rudaw on Wednesday.
"Rebel groups must leave Afrin and Turkey take their puppets away from these regions. Civilians are innocent people and they have no power to do anything," Emine Reshwelik, a protester, told Rudaw.
Fatima Abdulrahman, another protester, said "We are from Afrin and we are not cowards at all. We will not stop our demonstrations until our demands are met."
The protesters' key demands in Erbil were; a just trial of the perpetrators, the expulsion of rebel groups from Afrin, guaranteeing the return of civilians to Afrin, as well as the release of political prisoners.
Jindires was seized by Turkey and Turkish-backed forces in 2018 during an operation to drive Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the Afrin region.
YPG is the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The incident has also been condemned by the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The so-called Syria National Army, the umbrella group of Turkey-backed groups, has announced the arrest of three alleged attackers.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Wednesday that Ankara should stop supporting SNA-affiliated groups “implicated in recurrent or systemic human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations.”
“As an occupying power and as a backer of the local factions operating in areas under its control in northern Syria, Turkey is obliged to investigate these killings and ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” added HRW.
“These killings come after over five years of unaddressed human rights abuses at the hands of Turkish forces and the local Syrian factions they empower,” said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Turkey has allowed these fighters to abuse people living in the areas under their control with impunity, risking making itself complicit in the violations.”
