MSDYesterday, on June 20th, the Turkish army targeted a civilian car carrying officials of the Autonomous Administration of northeastern Syria. The airstrike, conducted by a Turkish drone, resulted in the martyrdom of Ms. Yusra Darweesh, the Co-chairwoman of Al-Qamishli Province, and her deputy Ms. Leman Shewesh, as well as the injury of Mr. Kabi Shamoun, the Co-chairman of the province. The driver, Mr. Firat Toma, also lost his life.
The Democratic Syria Council expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, while strongly condemning this horrific terrorist crime against civilians. The Council calls for holding Turkey accountable for all its war crimes committed on a daily basis against the people of Syria, without any deterrence or accountability. Furthermore, the Council vehemently denounces the international silence towards Turkish policies aimed at spreading fear and terror in the regions of northeastern Syria, making Syrian citizens to displace them from their villages and towns in preparation for their occupation. It rejects their portrayal as migrant groups, using them as a means of blackmailing the European Union and the United Nations into accepting Turkey’s deviant policies.
The Council specifically urges the United States-led international coalition against ISIS not to tolerate Turkish threats and war crimes against the local population. The Council also calls on the Russian Federation not to diver Astana Path into an operations room for coordinating security operations that target the lives of innocent Syrians.
The Syrian Democratic Council calls on United Nations bodies, relevant international organizations, and specifically the Security Council, to hold Turkey accountable for the crime it committed yesterday and to hold it responsible for all war crimes and ethnic cleansing practices it has carried out, in clear and explicit violation of international law and international humanitarian law.
On June 21st, 2023
The Syrian Democratic Council
