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Campaign of the Week: Heyva Sor makes urgent appeal for those injured in Turkish air strikes

TURKEY’S invasion of northern Syria has caused a humanitarian crisis, with hundreds of thousands of civilians forced to flee from their homes as they are bombarded by air strikes.

A region which is the most free, tolerant and democratic in the Middle East, where women play a leading role in all levels of society, is in danger of being overrun by the same jihadists that were driven out of Rojava by Kurdish-led forces.

Turkey is Nato’s second-largest army and has allied with a myriad of jihadist groups known as the Syrian National Army — formerly the Free Syrian Army — to invade and occupy the region.

Authoritarian President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had long-threatened to invade Syria on the pretext of creating a so-called safe zone, which is in reality an occupation.

US President Donald Trump’s ceasefire deal agreed late on Thursday amounts to the sanctioning of that occupation and enabling a potential massacre of Kurds in the region.

Earlier this week Medecins Sans Frontieres announced it was leaving the area because it was unable to guarantee the safety of its staff and volunteers from Turkish forces and their jihadist allies.

Reports of war crimes, including beheadings, rape and torture are emerging, along with the targeting of refugee camps holding Isis prisoners.

With all other NGOs leaving the area, there is only one group that is left behind co-ordinating relief efforts and providing medical care to those injured in Turkey’s air strikes.

Heyva Sor — the Kurdish Red Crescent – has issued an urgent international appeal for support as it struggles to deal with the unfolding humanitarian crisis.

It was established in 1993 with offices across the world, including Britain. Heyva Sor is a charity that operates in war and disaster zones to bring aid and support to people in need.

Its workers are putting themselves at great risk, with Turkish forces regularly firing on ambulances. Last week four of its workers were kidnapped by jihadist mercenaries and a doctor was killed by a Turkish air strike.

In Sere Kaniye, where fierce battle continues to rage despite the ceasefire and Turkey has been accused of using chemical weapons on civilians, the local hospital was badly damaged in an air strike.

Heyva Sor said: “The escalation of violence in the residential areas and the targeting of the civilian homes, schools and hospitals endanger the lives of five million people living there.

“Reports and video footage of human rights violations, including executions and the abuse of corpses by invading forces, are already a horrifying reality of this invasion.”

The organisation said that the invasion had led to the resurgence of Isis in the region and intensified the Syrian refugee crisis, just two of the many devastating consequences of the Turkish action that will reach far beyond the region.

Heyva Sor spokeswoman Nejla Ari told the Star that the situation was desperate and appealed to the British public, trade unions and community groups to support their appeal.

“Kurdish Red Crescent is doing its best to support on the ground where it can and are doing incredible work and trying everything to help the people.

“We ask the international community to stand behind the Kurdish people. International aid agencies should not only deal with the consequences of disasters, but also with those that cause them.

“We invite the international community to support our campaign for Rojava and aid agencies to raise their voice to prevent Turkish state attacks from causing more loss of innocent lives.”

Turkish police have claimed that Hevya Sor is linked to the PKK, which is officially designated a terrorist organisation by the EU as well as Turkey. However, it is a legal and registered charity.

Donations can be made here:

Kurdish Red Moon (Heyva Sor a Kurdistane)

Fairfax Hall 11 Portland Gardens London N4 IHU

E-mail:[email protected]

Registered Charity No: 10 93 741

Company No: 42 85 714

The Co-operative Bank

Bank Sort code: 089299

Bank Account No: 65863091
IBAN: GB55 CPBK 0892 9965 8630 91
BIC: CPBK GB22

 www.heyvasoruk.org

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