Deaths and injuries during Syrian protests against the Turkish occupation in northern Syria

Four people were killed and 20 others were injured yesterday, Monday, during protests in areas controlled by the Turkish occupation in northern Syria.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, three people were killed in Afrin, and another in Jarabulus, as a result of an exchange of fire between demonstrators and Turkish site guards.

Demonstrations broke out with the participation of hundreds of Syrians along the border strip under the control of the Turkish occupation, and extended to parts of Idlib region controlled by the Syrian opposition.

The demonstrations were accompanied by acts of violence, as clashes with machine guns took place between armed demonstrators and the Turkish occupation forces in front of the Saraya building in Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo.

The outbreak of demonstrations came after racist practices against Syrian refugees in the Kayseri region of Turkey, where the Turks burned and vandalized Syrian property after a Syrian person was accused of molesting a child.

Video clips showed attempts by protesters to storm Turkish points, lower the Turkish flag, and attack Turkish force vehicles.

For days, the cities of the Aleppo countryside have been witnessing angry protests against the backdrop of the opening of Abu Zindin crossing between the opposition and the Syrian government, coordinated by Russia and Turkey. The protesters rejected statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to restore relations with the Syrian government.

Erdogan’s recent statements about Ankara’s readiness to normalize relations with Damascus raised fears among residents of areas controlled by factions loyal to the Turkish occupation that the region would be handed over to the Syrian government.

The Democratic Autonomous Administration in North-East Syria confirmed in a statement that any rapprochement between Ankara and the Syrian government in Damascus constitutes a “big conspiracy against the Syrian people and their interests,” noting that Turkey seeks rapprochement with Damascus on the battlefield of Syrian blood.

It is noteworthy that since 2016, Turkey, with the help of Syrian factions loyal to it, has controlled border areas in northern Syria after several military operations, the most recent of which was the attack on the Ras al-Ain and Tal Abiyad regions in 2019.

*The Image is from the internet