Hundreds of thousands of people were driven into flight by the invasion of the AKP regime and its SNA troops. Behind all their stories are tragedies such as those of the al-Mahmoud family, whose children have disappeared while on the run.
When the Turkish state invaded Northern Syria on 9 October with its jihadist militias of the "Syrian National Army" (SNA), the expulsion of about 300,000 people began. Many of them came from the cities of Girê Spî (Tal Abyad) and Serêkaniyê (Ras al-Ain), places that are now under the rule of the jihadists and the Turkish army. The inhabitants of the cities fled to areas protected by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including Raqqa. Some of these families lost their children on the run, others in the attacks. They are all calling for an end to Turkey's attacks in order to return home.
"We were targeted directly by the artillery"
38-year-old Sultan al-Mahmoud tells how the Turkish artillery grenades struck directly into the houses of the civilian population: "We just escaped with our lives. The artillery fire was aimed directly at the civilian population. Most of us fled to different regions. Whenever we thought we had finally reached safe territory, the grenades struck again directly at our feet. In this way we changed villages nine times.
"Lost my 12-year-old son on the run"
The fighter jets were after us. Our children were very afraid of their noise. Nine of my children were still with me until we reached the village, but when I turned around and looked behind me again, my 12-year-old son Henan Ahmed was no longer with his brother. We jumped off the hook of death, but the fact that I lost my son hurts me endlessly.
"The ground is our bed, the sky is our blanket"
We fled with what we wore. We could not take anything with us. Now the ground is our bed and the sky is our blanket."
"Three of my children have disappeared"
The story of the 79-year-old Şemsê al-Mahmoud is hardly different: "I had three sons, they would visit me regularly. After the Turkish attack I heard screams and cars driving. Artillery shells were fired at the area. I went home and once again waited for our children. Then they bombed again. I went out of the house and left the city with the help of my neighbours. I have lost contact with my three sons has. I haven't heard from them yet."
"They have plundered the houses of the people"
The 79-year-old makes the US jointly responsible for the invasion of Turkey: "I ended up homeless, what should I do, where should I go? Do Turkey and the US want to massacre the people here? Do they want to repeat what happened in Afrin? When I went out of home, I saw it with my own eyes. They came after us with their beards and black clothes. They went from house to house and packed the people's property into their vehicles.
The whole world must see this injustice to the people. The US see exactly the crimes of Turkey here, therefore the US must be made jointly responsible for these acts."
