At close range, the doctor Michael Wilk in northern Syria has witnessed Turkey's attack on Kurdish areas. In a DW interview he talks about injured people, displaced persons and a lot of mistrust about the future.
You've taken care of wounded people in a hospital in Tell Tamer in northern Syria. Tell Tamer is located just a few miles south of the claimed by Turkey so-called security zone . There you have experienced the 150-hour break and also its end. What did you observe there?
Michael Wilk: Where we were there was no truce de facto. With our hospital we were at the beginning about 20 kilometers, in the end less than ten kilometers away from the respective front line. The front came closer. That is, the Turkish troops and their jihadist auxiliaries on the ground were trying to expand their territory further. Tell Tamer is strategically important. At present, the city is probably still in the hands of the Kurdish self-defense units or the Syrian units that have moved there. But there was no truce. We've had seriously injured, dying and dead people all along - both among the self-defense forces and among the civilian population.
Michael Wilk has been involved with the people of northern Syria for years, as here in Tell Tamer
On Tuesday, there were reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London about struggles between Turkish-controlled militias and Syrian troops - including in Tell Tamer.
That started when we were there. It moved Syrian troops, troops of the Assad regime, to the region - according to this concluded over the heads of the affected population away between Russia and Turkey. The report that Turkish invasion forces have clashed with Assad regimental forces is authentic.
On the ground, on the Turkish side, less regular troops seem to be on the move than Turkish-backed militias. How would you describe them?
In recent years, I've been frequently on emergency care in the region and I think I understand what's going on there. Turkey mainly uses jihadist Islamist auxiliaries on the ground. She recruits her from the Idlib area. This is still defended against the Syrian regime and supported by Turkey. In Idlib above all jihadist groups have settled. There, commando units were recruited to carry out this invasion. When I say jihadist troops, I mean fighters from the former al-Nusra front - al-Qaeda-friendly troops. But there are also former IS fighters among them. You can definitely identify them with pictures. These are people who fought for the IS in other places, then moved to Turkey via Turkey or directly to Idlib.
A year and a half ago, they also observed the Turkish invasion of Afrin up close. Is this story repeating in her eyes?
Afrin was then bombed by the Turkish side and stormed by Islamist auxiliaries . The self-defense units there fled and also the population. I was in the adjacent Sheba area and saw the people living there. It is now known that Turkey has virtually annexed this area with Turkish post offices, Turkish police, Turkish textbooks and schools. One can imagine what happens in the worst case scenario in the area now conquered by Turkey and its auxiliaries: this approximately 120-kilometer-wide area between Tell Abyad and Ras Al-Ain, reaching into the country about 30 to 35 kilometers deep ,
Turkish assisted Arab fighters are plundering shops in Afrin in March 2018
We now have 200,000 to 300,000 refugees as a result of this invasion. And in a region that was relatively quiet before. After breaking IS year, many people were building this part of the country. Now people have fled to neighboring areas, living in confined spaces. Schools are busy. 70,000 children can not go to school. There is a lack of much, of food in part, in some places even of drinking water. Medical care is increasingly difficult, reports the Kurdish Red Crescent. This invasion has triggered a cascade of humanitarian disaster.
How many and which people are actually still lagging behind and have not fled from the Turkish troops and auxiliary troops?
I talked to colleagues who previously worked in Serekaniye Hospital, which is part of the conquered area. The colleagues fled with their whole family with bag and bag. They have reported: Only a very small part of the population remained there. Because basically, anyone who fled this self-governing region in any way - whether it was a traffic policeman or a human being in the administration or even someone who worked in the hospital - especially if he is Kurdish. Some people think you could live with the Turkish occupation and stayed. But that is a very small minority. They must now submit to new rules. From many different side is reported that these rules already look like this,
The Turkish invasion has triggered a huge wave of escape - in a previously relatively quiet area
On Wednesday, talks began in Geneva on a future Syrian constitution. Kurds are not allowed to participate because of Turkish pressure. Does this process still interest the people of northern Syria?
Great hope is not put on these conversations by the people I spoke to. The fact that this region, where Kurdish people try to live in harmony with Assyrians, Aramaeans and Arabs and to organize a joint administration, is simply not an absurdity for most of them. Accordingly, they watch with suspicion what happens in Geneva. But one tries to save parts of self-government in the future. Which is difficult though. Now there are again troops of the Assad regime in this area, called in distress. The Assad regime is not popular with most Kurds. You have had bad experiences. The Assad regime is likely to be a thorn in the side of a Kurdish autonomy zone. And if Idlib is no longer a problem for Assad, you have to expect
Post a Comment