In Syria, the PYD (PKK Kurdish Terorist) is destroying the homes of the Turkmen

Agenda

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In Syria, the PYD and PKK (Kurdish terrorist groups) are threatening the Turkmen by saying, “If you do not leave your homes, we will provide coordinates to the coalition to bomb your schools and houses.” Turkmen villages are being demolished with bulldozers.

To prevent news of the Turkmen displacement from spreading, people are being forced to relocate internally within Syria rather than to Turkey. To prevent them from documenting where they are being sent, their mobile phones are being confiscated. The establishment of a safe zone between Jarabulus and Azaz will provide a vital opportunity for Turkmen who are exhausted by ISIS and PYD pressures.

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The planned safe zone between Azaz and Jarabulus in northern Syria, created for humanitarian reasons, will also be effective in neutralizing ISIS and PYD threats against Turkmen villages. The Turkmen live scattered across Syria, with about two-thirds concentrated north of Raqqa. Last month, the PYD captured Tel Abyad from ISIS, which includes both Arab and Turkmen villages, connecting the Kurdish-populated regions of Jazira and Kobani (Ayn al-Arab).

Afterwards, Turkmen in Tel Abyad began being forcibly displaced under the threat that “if they do not leave the area, coalition aircraft will carry out airstrikes.” Approximately 750 people from the villages of Hammam Turkuman and Al Iveyyid, 20 kilometers south of Tel Abyad, migrated to Turkey and various parts of Raqqa. The PYD continues to forcibly displace Turkmen.

The Turkmen villages between Tel Abyad and Ayn Issa in Raqqa’s province, and in the western part of Suluk as well as the Sarrin area between Kobani and central Raqqa, are currently under ISIS control. Other northern areas of Raqqa are under PYD control. PYD sources indicate that after capturing Tel Abyad, Sarrin may be their next target in northern Syria. It is also estimated that PYD aims to advance from there to Jarabulus, connecting the Kobani and Afrin “cantons.”

Ekrem Dede, member of the Syrian Turkmen Council and head of the Syrian Turkmen Association’s Şanlıurfa branch, stated that to prevent the forced displacement from being reported internationally, people are being forced to relocate internally rather than to Turkey. He added that some villages are bulldozed after evacuation to prevent residents from returning. Dede emphasized that establishing a safe zone in northern Syria is particularly important: it would protect local Turkmen from future displacement and prevent the Turkmen in Raqqa from falling under ISIS or PYD control. “If a safe zone had already been established, Turkmen could have remained in local settlements rather than going to camps in Turkey, and they would have been safe from ISIS threats,” he said.

Ahmed el-Hac Salih, member of the Tel Abyad Council and Local Documentation Committee, reported that PYD forces forcibly displaced 8,200 Turkmen from the villages of Hammam Türkmen Şemelli and Hammam Türkmen Cenubi, 5–6 kilometers south of Suluk. He added that Turkmen resisting the PYD were threatened. “Hüseyin Koçer, President of the PYD’s Resulayn Canton, says: ‘If you do not leave your homes, we will provide coordinates to the coalition to bomb your schools and houses.’”

Due to Koçer’s threats, people abandoned the schools they had sought refuge in and relocated within 12 hours to places they considered safe. The PYD also confiscated the migrants’ and residents’ mobile phones so that the displacement could not be documented.