Displaced Syrians Demonstrate against Turkish Military Presence in Afrin (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Thousands of displaced residents of Afrin, Syria, staged a demonstration Wednesday afternoon on the third anniversary of the Turkish-led military operation in Afrin.
Protesters taking part in the demonstration in the area of Az-Zijara, some 32 kilometers northwest of Aleppo, condemned the Turkish presence on their land while carrying pictures of people killed by Turkish forces and their allies as well as signs reading, 'Enough occupation of our land' and 'Afrin is the heart and soul of the Kurds.'
The demonstrators also condemned the international silence regarding the issue.
Over 150,000 Syrian ethnic Kurds fled the Afrin region after the military operation, with the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warning in a report issued in June 2018 that it has prevented the Kurds from returning to their homes and "may be an attempt to change permanently the ethnic composition of the area."
