News Center- The Turkish attacks on Afrin in 2018 displaced hundreds of thousands from Afrim to the Shahba region. In Shahba, the displaced women of Afrin rebuilt a new life and struggled to return to their homeland despite the attacks of the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions and the siege imposed by the Syrian government. However, the recent attacks on the region forced them to displace again.

 

On November 26, 2024, the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive in Aleppo. Several days later, the Turkish forces and Turkish-backed factions started attacking the town of Til Temir, also known as Tell Tamer, the Shahba region and the Aleppo countryside, displacing the people of Afrin again. Despite being displaced for the second time, the women of Afrin, who arrived in the city of Tabqa, are determined to resist, calling on the international community not to remain silent against the attacks.

 ‘Kurds must raise their voices everywhere’

“We were forcibly displaced from Afrin to Shahba in 2018 by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions,” said Rûken Mihemed Hebesh, a displaced woman of Afrin. “However, they have been attacking Shahba and displaced us for the second time. We do not understand what the Turkish state wants from us. Kurds must take to the streets and raise their voices against the attacks everywhere.”

‘We stand with the fighters’

Emîne Elî was also displaced from Afrin in 2018 when the city was occupied by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions. “We had to leave our homeland due to the occupation of the Turkish state. My house in Afrin was destroyed. We resisted in Shahba for seven years despite all the difficulties in hope of returning to Afrin one day. On the day of the attack, the members of the factions entered our house and broke my son's leg. The international community must see what has been going on here and stand against the attacks. We will fight to the last drop of blood and we stand with the (Kurdish) fighters.”

“The Autonomous Administration brought us here to protect us’

“The Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions attacked us in 2018 when we were at home in Afrin,” said another displaced woman of Afrin. “The people, who still live in Afrin, have been subjected to many rights violations and oppression by the factions. I do not understand why the whole world remains silent against these inhumane attacks. Don’t the people who talk about democracy and freedom every day see what we have been going through? The Autonomous Administration (of North and East Syria) brought us here to protect us. We are protected here.”

‘They aim to tear us away from our roots’

“They (The Turkish state and its armed factions) aim to tear us away from our roots,” said another displaced woman of Afrin. “They think they can occupy our thoughts and our souls by occupying our lands. The Turkish state and its factions must know very well that our roots protect us and that they cannot occupy our thoughts and our souls. We will resist wherever we go.”