Title: Syria: Role of International Agreements in Forced Displacement (3)
Publisher: Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) and Synergy organization
Release date: 2023

It has been four years since Operation Peace Spring launched by Türkiye and allied Syrian opposition armed group against Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê and Tell Abyad/Girê Sipî, north-eastern Syria. The Operation, which was started on 9 October 2019, resulted in Türkiye’s full control over the two cities and parts of their surroundings, reaching the M4 highway, which lies 30 to 35 km deep in Syrian territory. The Operation was suspended under two separate agreements Türkiye signed with the United States (U.S.) and Russia on 17 and 22 the same month.

Operation Peace Spring reshaped the map of control in favor of Türkiye at the expense of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/IS and led to a demographic change and displacement of the original population. This had numerous persistent impacts on civilians and ruined the area’s unique diversity, which fused different religions and nations including, Syriac, Assyrian, Armenian, Chechen, Arab, Kurdish, Turkmen, and Mardali.

Chechen civil activist, Rayan Akhteh, said in this regard:

“Anyone who knows the social and cultural composition of the city of Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê is fully aware of the obliteration of its identity which was full and rich of the spirit of brotherhood, peaceful coexistence, and solidarity. This identity is not the result of chance but of a heritage passed from generation to generation, over time, despite all the dramatic changes our country went through. Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê opened its door to displaced families fleeing hostilities from different Syrian provinces and was exemplary in hospitality.”

The writer and researcher, Shoresh Darwish, believes that Operation Peace Spring originally targeted the Kurdish social structure explaining:

“Before the Operation, we heard the speech of Türkiye’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in which he indicated that the nature of the area, referring to Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê, does not fit the Kurds’ lifestyle. Moscow and Washington were at the time colluded with Erdoğan approach to the area. We are facing a policy of resettlement and an occupation based on uprooting the indigenous population and replacing them with others.”

Operation Peace Spring resulted in the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of original people. A large number of those displaced stayed in makeshift camps set later by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) including, Serê Kaniyê/al-Talae’, Tel al-Samen, Washo Kani/al-Twaina, and Newroz Camps, while others were distributed in north-eastern Syria, mainly in al-Hasakah, Raqqa, and Qamishli or immigrated to Iraqi’ Kurdistan or European countries.

Four years have passed since Türkiye’s occupation of Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê, yet %85 of its population is still forcibly displaced. The area lost its diversity; its Kurds who were 75,000 people before the Turkish invasion are now no more than 45 people, and the number of the last Armenians, Syriacs, and Yazidis is less than 10 while most of its Arabs, Chechens, and Circassians were displaced. Meanwhile, Türkiye settled 2,800 families displaced from different Syrian parts as well as the refugees it deported, including Iraqi families of Daesh/IS fighters, in the original people’s homes.[1]

Journalist Shira Ousi who hails from Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê recounted on the exhausting displacement journey:

“The displacement process of Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê population was painful. Children, the disabled, and the elderly shared this experience alike. Many families dispersed and others lost their children or could not feed them. We saw children without milk and helpless mothers crying blood on their starving children. We were heading into the unknown.”

One major consequence of the Operation is Turkification, which is clearly visible in the Syrian areas occupied by Türkiye. A few days following the cease of Operation Peace Spring, the Turkish forces and allied Syrian armed factions raised the Turkish flag over the cities of Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê and Tell Abyad/Girê Sipî. This was followed by; the entry of Turkish relief organizations into the two cities including, the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH), and the Turkish Red Crescent; the adoption of the Turkish Lira (TL); the change of school curricula; and the rename of places.

The Turkish government’s establishment of a safe zone, construction of settlements with the aim to settle millions of refugees it is planning to deport, and creation of a human shield separating it from the Kurds in Syria, confirms Türkiye’s intention to make a demographic change to the area.

Locals condemned Türkiye’s deportation of Syrians to areas whose original people living in makeshift camps and struggling to secure life basics. Kulstan Afdaki, an activist and member of the Syrian Women’s Council, elaborated on the challenges locals are facing saying:

“The biggest challenge is their inability to return to their original areas and homes or to adapt to their new areas. However, the challenges in IDP camps are more severe, since these camps lack the necessities of life and are not recognized or supported by UN bodies and international organizations.”

Only a few of the area’s original people managed to return while the homes left by them were settled by families came from different Syrian provinces including, Homs, Hama, and Idlib, families of foreign nationalities such as the Iraqis, and families of fighters of the armed factions that fought alongside Türkiye.

Much of the area remains volatile and insecure due to the constant clashes between armed factions fighting over influence and resources and the human rights violations they are committing including, killing, arbitrary arrest, torture, and the seizure of private and public property, which prevent the return of the original peopl.[1]