ŞİRİN MİHEMED

Qamishlo- Turkish state continues to carry out its attacks on North and East Syria while the people of the region continue to resist attacks. The women living in Qamishlo, a city in northeastern Syria, call on the people of the region to resist the Turkish attacks and to protect the Democratic Nation project. NuJINHA spoke to Arifa Bakr, member of the Democratic Union Party, and Warda Hanna, member of the Syriac Women's Union (SWU), about the ongoing Turkish attacks on the region.

‘The aim is to spread fear’

Stating that the Turkish state has been intensifying its attacks on the region since the revolution that took place in North and East Syria, Arifa Bakr said, “Despite the attacks, we have defended our region and we will defend it. The aim of the attacks is to spread fear among people, destroy security and stability of the region, depopulate the region and change the demographic structure of the region. They did the same things in Afrin, Serêkaniyê and Ain Isa. The Turkish state aims to revive the Ottoman Empire and to abolish the democratic nation project by carrying out inhuman practices in our region.”

‘We are the owners of these lands’

Emphasizing that the people of the region have a strong will to resist the attacks, Arifa Bakr said, “The people and women from all nations and religions should strengthen their struggle against the attacks and they should protect the democratic nation project. Women play an important role in implementing the democratic nation project. For this reason, women should struggle more. We are the owners of these lands and everyone is responsible for protecting our region.”

‘People defend their region by joining forces’

Warda Hanna, member of the Syriac Women's Union (SWU), first spoke about the revolution in Rojava. “Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, which was sparked in 2011, the Turkish state and many countries have been attacking our region. Several cities were occupied by mercenaries. This led to the deepening of the crisis. The Turkish state targets all people of the region in its attacks. It targets not only Kurds but also Syriac people. The Ottoman Empire committed the Sayfo genocide against Syriac people and now the Turkish state wants to commit a genocide against us. I call on all people in the region to resist the ongoing Turkish attacks.”