One of the places targeted during the Turkish attacks on the northern Syrian canton of Shehba on 15 February was the vicinity of the camp where Romani people from Afrin are staying. The Romani people said that the Turkish state wants to keep them away from Shehba and Afrin with the recent bombings because Turkey wants to annex Afrin to Turkey. “However, we will not flee from Afrin, our desire is the liberation of our home,” they said.

On 15 February, which also marked the 23rd anniversary of the international conspiracy against Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, the Turkish army bombed Shehba, where more than 100,000 people from Afrin live. Five civilians, three of whom were children, were injured during the Turkish bombing. The Turkish forces also bombed the vicinity of the camp where the Romani people from Afrin, who call themselves Kochers, stay.

The Romani people who have been living on Kochera Street in Afrin for the last 50 years never renounced their way of life despite all the efforts of the Syrian regime before the Rojava Revolution. The Kochers, who participated in the Rojava Revolution from the very beginning and gave martyrs, elected their commune co-chairs in 2017. The Kochers did not leave the city during the 58-day long Turkish invasion attack on 20 January 2018. On the day when Afrin was occupied, in March 2018, they migrated to Shehba together with 300,000 Afrin residents. The Kochers living in Kochera Street and in the neighbourhood of Eşrefiye, did not stay in occupied Afrin. The Kochers talked about the Turkish attacks launched on 15 February and their resistance.

We will return to Afrin

Emine Kemal Muhammed, whose son fell as a martyr in Afrin, spoke about the Turkish incursion. “Turkey’s Erdogan attacked us for 58 days, their fighter jets flew over us and hit us. We had to leave Afrin and go to Shehba. Last night, our children did not sleep because of fear. Bombs were dropped around the camp. No matter what Erdogan does, we will not leave Shehba. We have sacrificed so many lives. We will follow in the footsteps of our martyrs. We will stay in Shehba and one day we will return to Afrin. The only place we will go from Shehba will be Afrin. Of course, Afrin will be liberated.”

Huseyin Şêxo, one of the residents of the Kochera Camp, said that the Turkish bombing on 15 February, did not cause any casualties or martyrs thanks to the side hills around the camp.

Şêxo recalled that the Kochers lived freely in Afrin like all other peoples before the Turkish invasion. “All peoples lived peacefully together in Afrin. Nobody was ruling over anybody. We, the Kochers, took part in the Afrin Resistance. All peoples lived and resisted together. Nevertheless, when Afrin was occupied by the Turkish forces, we fled our city. I was injured in a mine explosion in Shehba. Here, too, the Turkish state does not stop, it drops bombs in Shehba every day. They want to destroy us, yet we will not perish. We will resist as long as we live and one day we will return to Afrin."

We did not accept to live under Turkish occupation

Kochera Camp’s commune co-chair Kamber Dede pointed out that after the Turkish occupation of Afrin, no single Kocher person remained in Afrin. “We are used to living freely. The Syrian regime was putting pressure on us, but we never gave up our freedom. Following the Rojava Revolution and the Autonomous Administration, we lived freely in Afrin. When the Turkish army occupied Afrin we could not live under oppression and occupation. We have been living in Shehba for four years despite all the difficult conditions. The Turkish forces carry out constant attacks with tanks and cannons, but we still do not leave Shehba. We will not leave it for one day. We will return to Afrin.”

Dede emphasized that the Turkish bombing of Shehba on 15 February was very intense, and 5 civilians were injured. “It was the anniversary of the 15 February International Conspiracy. As the Afrin people, we organized a huge march in Shehba to condemn it and demand freedom for Öcalan. The Turkish state saw this and hit Shehba, specifically targeting our protest. They also bombed the vicinity of our camp. This thing I am holding in my hand is a piece of bomb dropped by the Turkish army. It could have killed or injured anybody. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. With its bombings, the Turkish state wants to remove us from Shehba and away from Afrin. It seeks to annex Afrin to Turkey. We will not flee from Afrin. Our desire is the liberation of Afrin.”