This Monday, November 28 marks the eighth day of the Turkish offensive in Syrian Kurdistan. Eight days of intense bombardment. A first assessment announces more than sixty dead and many wounded. As a reminder, Ankara accuses the Kurdish forces of having perpetrated the Istanbul attack of November 13, which killed six people. What the authorities of Rojava deny.
With our correspondent in Erbil, Theo Renaudon
This Sunday, in the city of Qamishli, thousands of Kurds gathered to demonstrate against the Turkish bombardments that have been hitting the region for more than a week. In the hands of the demonstrators, the red, yellow and green flags, in the colors of the Syrian Kurdistan, merge with the banners paying homage to the soldiers killed by the Turkish strikes.
At the head of the procession, people carry a large-format portrait of the historic leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), now imprisoned in Turkey.
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1,000 shells and 60 air raids
The day before, already, families of victims had gathered in front of the nearby Russian military base, accusing the country of allowing Turkish aggression to take place. Because for eight days, it has been raining bombs in the sky of Rojava. More than 1,000 shells were fired and 60 airstrikes were carried out, according to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Attacks that target military bases, prisons, but also oil infrastructure, the main source of income for the Kurds.
And the concern of the inhabitants does not weaken. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan promises to launch a ground operation very soon. Since November 20, about 65 people (35 SDF fighters and their allies, 28 members of the Syrian regime forces, as well as a journalist working for a Kurdish news agency) have been killed, according to the OSDH.
►To re-read: Syria: artillery duels continue between the Turkish army and the Kurds