Turkish border guards kill three Syrian Kurdish civilians

Turkish security forces have shot dead at least three Syrian Kurdish civilians as they tried to cross into Turkey .

Hisham Arafat 2016/12/07 16:56

kurdistan24.net

kurdistan Turkish-Syria Border Syrian Civil War Syrian Kurds Rojava

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) - Turkish security forces of the border with Syria on Wednesday shot dead at least three Syrian Kurdish civilians as they tried to cross into Turkey from the mainly-Kurdish northeastern Syria (Rojava).

Speaking to Kurditan24, relatives of the dead said the three young people arbitrarily killed were Khaled Noor, Marouf Husen, and Mohammad Ali who lost their lives in the shootings overnight as they sought to cross into Turkey from the border town of Darbasiyah in northeastern Syria.

"The poor men were shot while trying to cross the border illegally, and we found their bodies thrown on the Syrian side next day," said Abdo Sayid, Husen's uncle.

Sayid added that his nephew and the other two relatives left the country because of the deteriorating financial situation in Rojava.

Additionally, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which tracks the Syrian conflict using sources on the ground, stated in a recent report on Tuesday that 165 Syrian citizens have so far been killed by the Turkish border guards.

Rojava officials complained that by preventing the Syrian civilians from entering Turkey, the last outlet for the fleeing people is closed.

"People who want to leave the country to earn a living will be killed," said Mihemed Mahfuz, a member staff at House of Martyrs' Families.

"Even the farmers who have lands near the border are being targeted and shot," Mahfuz further explained.

House of Martyrs' Families is an authority run by Rojava administration which cares for the families of the fighters who lost their lives in the fight against the Islamic State (IS), the Syrian army and the Qaeda-affiliated Islamist groups.

Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Turkey closed its border crossings with the northern Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria (Rojava).

They also tightened the security on the border with Rojava, preventing people who are fleeing the war-torn country to cross into Turkey by arresting them.

To make matters worse, the Turkish border guards shot those who want to cross the border for any reason.

In the last three years, the Turkey-Rojava border line has witnessed several cases of civilian casualties by the Turkish border guards.

Editing by Ava Homa

(Additional reporting by Ferhad Ehme from Dirbasiyah)