Residents in the Turkish border town of Qamishli shared their views on Ankara’s recent military strikes on Friday. The comments came after Turkey has reportedly carried out airstrikes on oil facilities in northern Syria on Thursday.
“The Turkish attacks on the area had a significant and challenging impact on the people’s lives. The electrical power was cut off three days ago, and so has the water. We no longer send our children to school and can not even move around freely because bombing can occur anywhere,” a Qamishli local said. Another resident stated “we call on world states to stop the Turkish attacks on us.”
According to Aram Hana, a spokesperson of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), “President Biden must fulfil his promises to his voters and public opinion; such commitment is considered a criterion to measure the US Administration’s credibility. Accordingly, we reiterate the need to fulfil these promises and take active steps to achieve peace and stability in our regions.”
Turkey launched a series of airstrikes and artillery strikes on Kurdish and SDF positions in northern Iraq and Syria at the weekend and earlier in the week. Turkish authorities say they have killed at least 254 militants and hit 471 targets in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq since the operation began.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that the operations were “only the beginning”, as Turkey could launch a ground offensive.
