SYRIAN Kurds vowed to defend their lands as Turkey launched a new set of attacks on the border towns of Kobane and Tall Abyad today.

Members of the Women’s Union gathered at a stadium in the city of Manbij where they condemned the latest invasion by the Turkish state and highlighted the silence from the international community.

Banners declared: “Young people of Manbij will not accept the Ottoman invasion” as those gathered heard a statement read by youth activist Nesrin Berkel.

“The peoples of Syria will never be silent against the attacks and will defend their lands,” she promised.

Manbij Women’s Council spokeswoman Nadia Milhim called for resistance against the Turkish invasion and to escalate the struggle for the liberation of Afrin, Jarablus and al-Bab.

“The unity of the peoples of Syria will defeat Turkey and reject the attacks,” she said.

The latest offensive began on October 27, soon after an international summit was convened in Istanbul between Russia, France, Germany and Turkey to discuss the future of Syria.

It forced the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose main component is the largely Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to pause the fight against Isis in Deir ez-Zor in order to defend the towns of Kobane and Tall Abyad from the Turkish invasion.

An SDF statement said: “We call on the international community to condemn the Turkish provocations in the safe areas in Syria, and we demand our partners in the International Coalition show a clear attitude and stop Turkey from launching attacks on the region.”

Turkey insists that the SDF is a terrorist organisation linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and claim that operations are necessary to secure its borders.

Turkish forces, allied with jihadists from the Free Syrian Army, invaded the peaceful city of Afrin in northern Syria in January. 

Thousands of Kurds fled their homes amid allegations of chemical attacks and extrajudicial killings, along with the destruction of Kurdish statues and cultural icons.

The international community appeared to support the invasion and subsequent occupation by Nato’s second-largest army, allowing Turkish forces to act with impunity.

Syrian Democratic Council co-chair Emina Umer today paid tribute to six-year old Sara Rifat who was killed after she was shot in the head during a Turkish army attack on Tall Abyad.

“The invading Turkish state attacks against northern Syria target women and children.

“She has been martyred as the result of the agreements among foreign states that want to break the will of the Syrian peoples.”