Syria
Turkish-backed jihadists continued their encroachment into northeastern Syria with the support of Turkish airpower last week. On Sunday, the jihadists launched a large incursion into Ain Issa, which is southeast of Kobani and outside the “safe zone” agreed upon by the US, Turkey, and Russia. The incursion was supported by Turkish drones and resulted in jihadists seizing control of a portion of the M4 highway. On Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced they regained control of the villages seized by Turkish-backed jihadists. The SDF then blamed Russia for allowing the attacks near Ain Issa as it was in the “sight of the unmoved Russian forces to stop this barbaric invasion, supposedly on the ground as the guarantor of the ceasefire.” The SDF statement also read, “The disregard for these attacks by the Russian forces and their failure to play their role of guarantor raises many doubts among our forces disproportionate to the role of Russia and what it aspires to play as the role of guarantor in the political solution throughout Syria.” Concurrently, in the Tal Tamer suburbs, Turkish drones struck Syrian regime forces after the Russians made the SDF withdraw from the area and allowed the Syrian regime to regain control.
On November 21, Turkish drones attacked Kobani and caused numerous civilian casualties. SDF commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi denounced the attacks and called upon the US and Russia to fulfill their agreements regarding the ceasefire. Abdi stated, “Turkey massacred a Kurdish family in a drone strike near Kobani while claiming seven ‘terrorists’ were killed. Ceasefire guarantors US and Russia are responsible for preventing our children from being massacred by Turkey and we call on them to investigate and hold Turkey accountable for its crimes.” Kobani has remained under the threat of Turkish invasion since Russian troops took over the recently abandoned US base in the area.
The SDF announced the arrest of 25 ISIS members from Deir Ez Zor in coordination with the US-led coalition during an operation conducted from November 15-22. Among those arrested was the planner of a recent bombing in Hasakah who was hiding among ISIS (Da’esh) families in the al Hawl camp.
The number of residents internally displaced by Turkey’s invasion of northeastern Syria reached 300,000 last week. The displaced are residents of several towns but mostly from Tal Abyad and Sari Kani. The internally displaced people (IDPs) are currently housed in camps located in al Hasakah Province, though many are demanding to return to their homes which are in areas currently occupied by the Turkish military and Turkish-backed jihadists.
Turkey
The Turkish government followed up on its removal and replacement of 24 elected Kurdish mayors in Turkey’s Kurdish region by intensifying its crackdown on Kurdish activists and political figures. Turkish authorities detained 57 Kurds during a series of raids in Gaziantep. The detainees included senior members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Simultaneously, in Suruc, Turkish police detained the city’s co-mayor, Hatice Çevik, after she was removed from office. Additional raids took place in Diyarbakir and Adana. Likewise, the Turkish government filed 45 summaries requesting the lifting of immunity on nine HDP lawmakers. The nine lawmakers included HDP leader Sezai Temelli. The HDP responded to the Turkish government’s continuing crackdown by calling for early elections and issued an official statement which said, “We are calling for an ‘early election’ in order to rescue people of Turkey from the tyranny of AKP-MHP. This is a call for defiance. We are challenging you! We are calling for all opposition to rally around this demand for early elections and move in unison.”