ÊLVÎN MIHEMED

Kobanê- The Turkish state has used warplanes, drones and artillery to attack North and East, targeting civilians, mostly children. NuJINHA spoke to the employees of the Child Protection Office in Kobanê, who call on the international community and human rights organizations to break their silence against the ongoing Turkish attacks and protect children.

 ‘The attacks by the Turkish state are a revenge against the Kurdish people’

Bêrîvan Mihemed thinks that the attacks by the Turkish state are a revenge against the Kurdish people because they defeated ISIS in Kobanê. “10 years have passed since ISIS was defeated in Kobanê. The resistance in Kobanê defeated ISIS in 2014. The recent attacks by the Turkish state on Kobanê are a revenge against the Kurdish people. Civilians holding a vigil on the Tishreen Dam to defend their water source and their homeland are targeted by the Turkish attacks. The Turkish state targets civilians to annihilate the Kurdish people and to cause fear among people.”

‘We have a strong will’

The aim of the Turkish state is to intimidate the people, Bêrîvan Mihemed stressed, adding: “It uses warplanes, drones and artillery to annihilate the people. As the Kurdish people, we have a strong will and we will not fail or weaken. We will never leave our lands. We have vowed to govern ourselves with the free life philosophy of leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan). We will keep implementing our system based on democracy and being successful.”

‘There is an international silence against rights violations committed by the Turkish state’

Since the beginning of the revolution in Rojava, the Turkish state has carried out attacks on North and East Syria, said Xunav Bozan, another employee of the office. “The Turkish state has recently intensified its attacks, targeting and killing civilians, including women and children. There is an international silence against rights violations committed by the Turkish state.”

‘Children are killed’

Xunav Bozan recalled the Turkish drone strike that targeted a busy outdoor market in the town of Sirîn (Sarrin), south of Kobanê, on January 28. “Children, who earned a living by selling vegetables were targeted by a Turkish drone strike. The strike killed many civilians, including children. 10 people from the same family were killed in a Turkish strike on Ayn Issa. Seven civilians, including were killed in a Turkish strike targeting a village of Kobanê. Children are killed by the Turkish state every day. Do not the countries protecting children’s rights know that the Kurdish children, like all children, have the right to have a peaceful life in their homeland?”