Title: The keys to our houses don’t rust
Place of publication: Brussels
Release date: 2020
Assessment of the ceasefire agreement in nImage 1ortheastern Syria Ras Al-Ain as a model
On October 9, 2019, the Turkish army launched an air and ground offensive on northeastern Syria in the area between the cities of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain after the withdrawal of U.S. forces. A few days after the SDF dismantled its defense fortifications after a request from the United States, Turkey used Syrian opposition factions such as the Sultan Murada Turkmen faction and the Hamzat faction in this offensive. After several days of fierce fighting, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced on October 17 that the United States and Turkey had reached an agreement to suspend the Turkish military operation for 5 days to allow for the withdrawal of the SDF from a proposed safe area south of the Turkish bo On October 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached another agreement to extend the ceasefire for an additional 150 hours in order for the SDF to complete its withdrawal 30 kilometers away from the border area, as well as from the cities of Tel Rifaat and Manbij. The agreement also included joint patrols between Russia on the one hand and Turkey on the other, 10 kilometers from the Syrian side of the border, with the exception of the city of Qamishli. The new ceasefire began on October 23 at 12:00 p.m. local time.
The Turkish military operation resulted in dozens of casualties and displaced more than 180,000 residents of the region, according to United Nations data. It resulted in looting of public and private property and hundreds of documented human rights violations. A year later, the situation continues to worsen day after day in Ras- Al ain city as a result of the continuing human rights violations by the Syrian National Army factions. This is allegedly a result of Turkish policies that are striving to carry out large-scale demographic change processes, distancing the Kurdish people from their southern borders under the pretext of protecting its national security. No actual threat to its security has been recorded from the Kurdish side.
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