A delegation from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) visited the parliamentary group of DIE LINKE in Berlin on Tuesday and informed them about the ongoing attacks by Turkey. Dr Abdulkarim Omar, the AANES representative in Europe, and the representative in Germany, Khaled Davrisch, took part in the meeting with the left-wing MPs.

Omar reported that the Turkish attacks were directed against the population and civilian infrastructure. Among other things, schools, hospitals, grain silos and the oil and gas supply have been attacked. "Turkey wants to achieve results by attacking the civilian population and profit from it in the upcoming elections. The Turkish army is preparing a ground invasion and is trying to displace the population through continued bombardment. If this succeeds, a flight to Europe is to be expected,” he said.

Abdulkarim Omar went on to say that ISIS is being strengthened by the attacks. This development poses a threat both to the north-eastern Syrian autonomous region and to the international community, he said, and noted that AANES pursues the approach of solving all problems through dialogue and negotiations. States and political parties could play a role in such a dialogue, he added.

Omar demanded that German MPs take responsibility, stating that pressure must be put on European governments to stop Turkey's attacks. “This is the only way to continue the fight against Islamist militias like ISIS. In this context, the Bundestag must also put Turkey's attacks, which violate international law, on its agenda,” said Abdulkarim Omar.

Turkey occupied Jarablus in 2016, Afrin in 2018 and Serêkaniyê (Ras al-Ain) and Girê Spî (Tal Abyad) in 2019 in northern Syria in violation of international law and built up a mercenary army consisting of jihadists. The north-eastern Syrian autonomous region has been under daily attack ever since. On the night of 19-20 November, Turkish fighter jets bombed the entire area between Afrin in the west and Dêrik in the east. The wave of attacks has continued for ten days with drones and heavy weapons, targeting the population and civilian infrastructure. So far, 13 civilians have been killed, including a journalist, and 14 others injured, including three minors and another journalist. Nineteen fighters and one member of the security forces have been killed and two others wounded. Dozens of Syrian army soldiers were also killed in the attacks. In Afrin’s Shera district, the Turkish army allegedly used a phosphorus bomb. In the village of Koran near Kobanê, a school was destroyed by the bombardment. A health centre and two clinics were also bombed. Hundreds of schools had to be closed in the wake of the attacks. In addition, Turkey has enabled ISIS supporters to escape by targeting security forces in the Hol detention camp.