Why Turkish state targets Girê Spî borders

HEVIDAR HARANI –MOHAMMED AL_AHMED / Girê Spî

Girê Spî / Tel-Abyed is 100 km north of al-Raqqa city which is considered the link between al-Jazeera and Kobanî. It is located on the Turkish border along the city of Akjakala, and famous of its irrigated agricultural land, and most of its inhabitants work in the cultivation of cereals such as wheat and barley.

Many of the components live side by side in Girê Spî city, and the Kurds are considered the main component in addition to the Arabs, Armenians and Syriacs. A participatory lifestyle and peaceful co-existence are prevailed in the area.

With the outbreak of war in Syria and in 2012, the forces of the regime withdrew from Girê Spî, and the city was ruled by many armed gangs and mercenaries such as Ahrar Al Sham, al-Faruq, Battalions, Jabhet al-Nusra and others. The number of battalions that were stationed in the city at the time was about 106 battalions, while the Turkish state supported secretly and particularly al-Faruq battalions and Jabhet al-Nusra. Therefore, these gangs expelled the Kurds from the area as a result of the Turkish State's policies that were being carried out by mercenary gangs' hands.  

In that period, many members of the Arab component objected to the practices of the mercenary gangs against the Kurds and confirmed that they live with the Kurds in this area and they must not be expelled from their homes.

Girê Spî was occupied by IS in 2014, and overnight, all the battalions that had previously been stationed in the city disappeared and joined IS, especially that the Turkish state encouraged and called on those groups to join IS mercenaries. At that time, the border crossing between Girê Spî and Turkey was under the domination of IS mercenaries. Thus, that helped the Turkish State to provide various forms of support to IS mercenaries.

When IS occupied Girê Spî city, the number of the Turkish diplomats in the Turkish Consulate in the city of al-Mosul in Iraq arrested by IS, and on the basis of an agreement and understanding between Turkey and IS gangs, the diplomats were released and crossed into Turkey through the crossing border of Girê Spî city which contributed to the strengthening of the relationship between Turkey and IS and the preparations have begun for the launching attacks on Kobanî.

After IS settled in Girê Spî, the city and its countryside have become strategic sites for them. The Turkish state always supplied IS with arms and ammunition through al-Jallab River, located east of the city, as well as the transfer of IS mercenaries from there to al-Raqqa which was taken as the capital to the caliphate of IS.

When the mercenaries occupied that area, they forcibly imposed their unjust laws on the people and the women had been enslaved and the people have been beaten and tortured.

Girê Spî city's liberation

With the continuation of occupying Girê Spî city by IS, the people have severely suffered from brutal practices such as repression and persecution. At that time, the People and Women Protection Units (YPG, YPJ) began to prepare for a military campaign to liberate the area from IS mercenaries as young men and women from the area flocked to join the ranks of YPG and YPJ.

The liberation campaign of Girê Spî was launched, and on 15 September 2015, the city was liberated from IS. After the liberation of the city from IS, the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) began to establish many institutions and councils, organizing the people under the umbrella of the administration, and many institutions and organizations for women in the city and its countryside were established .

Turkish state's purposes

There are no contradictions or conflicts among the components of Girê Spî, but on the contrary, the people of these components consolidate the model of co-existence, social peace and fraternity of peoples, but the Turkish state is not satisfied with these situations, and seeks to spread strife and division among the peoples and components. To achieve this goal, it has recently begun to launch attacks against Girê Spî.

The Turkish state's attacks which began in 2015 have escalated recently, targeting particularly the border villages such as Tel- Fender, Sosak, al-Babsa and al-Assal.

The Turkish state has previously intended to spread strife and division among the people of the area through IS mercenaries. The aim of these efforts was to spread tension among the people and to consolidate differences and contradictions among the components, and thus to work on the occupation of the city again. On the other hand, the Turkish state is seeking through these attacks to force the people of the border villages to flee and empty their villages, but the people confirmed their rejection of the Turkish state's plans and they will not give up their villages.

The Turkish state's continuous attacks against Girê Spî area resulted in the martyrdom of one of the Self-Defense Forces in Tel Fender village on 28 October. However, the attacks have not stopped. The attacks on November 1, 2018 resulted in the martyrdom the six-year-old childe Sara Rifat Mustafa.

The Turkish state also targeted two correspondents of (ANHA) while they were covering the Turkish occupation attacks, and that resulted in wounding them.

The co-chair of Girê Spî canton's council Sabri Mustafa talked about the subject and stressed that the Turkish state is attacking Girê Spî city and its villages under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Mustafa noted that the city has witnessed so far many explosions, all of them carried out by the Turkish state, and that the aim of all these attacks is to empty the city of its people.

Mustafa also said that they would not give up their land despite all the attacks. He also referred to the ongoing military campaign in Deir ez-Zor to liberate the last pockets from IS mercenaries. He added, "The Turkish state is striving to save IS mercenaries so it started to escalate these attacks directly."

At the end of his speech, the co-chair of Girê Spî canton's council Sabri Mustafa called for all international forces to repel the Turkish attacks and do not remain silent towards these attacksn and appealed to Children Rights organizations to protect the rights of children to reduce the killing of children at the hands of the Turkish state.

(T/S)

ANHA