Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
from the News Desk, The Cradle, April 25, 2023
Turkish military forces in northern Syria were forced to temporarily suspend trench-digging operations over the past few days near the border wall between the two countries after massive protests by locals in the city of Ras al-Ain and a number of other areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on 24 April.
According to SOHR, Turkish troops “assigned an armed faction to carry out the excavation operations.”
The digging reportedly started four days ago in the Hasakah countryside. Digging operations expanded across the areas of Turkish influence in northern Syria, including the villages of Rawya and Al-Aziza.
Dozens of men, women, and children gathered in front of the bulldozers on 23 April, protesting and calling for the expulsion of Turkish troops and their proxy militias in the Syrian National Army (SNA) coalition – which is made up predominantly of extremist groups. The digging has since stopped, but remains high on the Turkish army’s agenda.
According to SOHR, the trench digging began 300 meters away from the Turkish border wall.
However, local sources told The Cradle on 25 April that the Turkish military intends to continue expanding forward incrementally with the digging, with the aim of eventually putting up a “security wall.”
Demonstrations have persisted and remain ongoing in the city of Ras al-Ain, the sources said, adding local committees have been holding meetings to find a solution.
The overall goal is to “carve out and divide” the land and establish “a prohibited area,” SOHR reported.
The sources confirmed to The Cradle that these are the earliest stages of the Turkish plan to establish a 30-kilometer buffer zone, or ‘security belt,’ across Syria’s north under the pretext of securing the Turkish border from Kurdish militants.
They went on to say that this is happening “by force” against the will of people in the area. If Ankara goes ahead with the plan, it could pose a threat to wheat crops in the area.
Coinciding with ongoing protests in northern Syria, a meeting was held on 25 April in Moscow between the defense ministers of Russia, Turkiye, Syria, and Iran, as part of efforts for a normalization of ties between Damascus and Ankara.
During the meeting, the four countries declared their “desire to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity.”
However, Turkiye announced earlier this month that it has no intention of stopping its military activity in the country.
The recent digging operations in the north reinforce the overwhelming suspicion that despite the talks, Ankara is not willing to end its occupation of Syria.
It is unclear how this will translate as negotiations continue – as the Syrian government has repeatedly stressed that it will not go through with the normalization unless Turkiye sets a clear intention to withdraw its troops and to end all support for extremist factions such as those within the SNA.
The SNA coalition – which is made up of several extremist factions, including Jaish al-Islam, as well as ex-ISIS commanders – has been accused of a number of atrocities, and of oppressing both the Kurdish and Arab inhabitants of northern Syria.
This is particularly true in the city of Ras al-Ain, on which the SNA groups have maintained a siege.
