After destroying mosques, killing 235 civilians, who holds Erdogan accountable?
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to achieve his
expansionist aspirations in North Syria no matter the cost, as on October 9,
2019, he ordered a military offensive that claimed the lives of thousands of
civilians and destroyed entire residential areas, clear war crimes punishable
by international law.
This raises questions about who is holding the Turkish
president accountable after he violated the rights of civilians, in a complete
disregard for international laws, aiming to build a safe area along his
country's border with northern Syria.
The Turkish army, which broke into the Syrian border, did not
differentiate between civilian and military buildings, as it intensified its
attacks against civilian buildings, whether residential or public service
buildings, in order to sow terror among citizens, and push them to flee from
their homes.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has announced in a
statement that the Turkish army targeted the main mosque of Ras al-Ain city
with missiles by Turkish planes.
The SDF leadership published a video showing the damage to
the mosque's construction as a result of the Turkish bombing, represented in
the destruction of parts of the roof and walls of the mosque.
The mosque was not the first of its kind targeting Turkish
forces in targeting civilian buildings. The Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, on Friday, October 11, 2019, confirmed that Turkish forces shelled
residential neighborhoods in the Syrian city of Qamishli, which holds one of
the largest prisons holding Daesh terrorists.
The joint head of the Health Authority in northern and
eastern Syria Joan Mustafa said that the Turkish attack killed 235 civilians,
including 22 children, and 677 injured, in addition to targeting medical areas
in the secret city of Kana despite the presence of dozens of wounded.
Turkey wants to create a 32-kilometer deep "safe
zone" along a 420-kilometer stretch of its border to remove the Kurdish
population and relocate Arab Syrian refugees into area.
Jwan Mustafa of the Syrian Kurdish health administration also
said that Turkish fighter jets launched air strikes focused on civilian areas
in northeastern Syria, before carrying out an evacuation of residents in the
area.
Turkish fighter jets also targeted a civilian convoy of
residents in northeastern Syria, on Sunday 13 October 2019, on its way to the
city of Ras al-Ain, to participate in an event condemning the Turkish invasion,
which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.
According to director of Kurds without Borders Organization,
Kadar Beri, Turkey has pushed terrorists and its armed militias towards the
Syrian border, with the aim of striking civilian institutions in this region,
pointing out that the Kurds and the Syrian people will defend their land
completely.
He further added that Turkey's militias would work to awaken
thousands of sleeper cells belonging to Daesh, with the aim to revive the
terrorist organization and bring its terror back to life.