Clashes erupted yesterday, Monday, in Afrin and northern Aleppo countryside between Syrian protesters and Turkish forces controlling northern Syria, resulting in the death of 4 people and the injury of more than 20 others. This followed protests against ongoing violent and racist campaigns in several Turkish cities targeting Syrian refugees.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported yesterday that “4 Syrian citizens were killed in Afrin and Jarablus, with more than 20 others wounded to varying degrees during clashes with Turkish forces and Syrian factions allied with them.”
Syrian protesters expressed their anger following violent incidents sparked by accusations of a Syrian harassing a child, which led to attacks on businesses and properties belonging to Syrians in Kayseri, Turkey. Turkish police arrested 67 people in connection with these incidents.
The Observatory confirmed that clashes spread to multiple areas in northern Aleppo countryside and northwest Syria, encompassing at least 15 points, due to racial discrimination against Syrian refugees in Turkey, forced deportation campaigns, and attacks on their properties by racist Turks, with no effective action from Turkish authorities to protect Syrians.
Protests erupted in Idlib countryside and western Aleppo countryside, marked by violence, gunfire, and attacks on Turkish trucks, as well as road blockades according to the Observatory.
The city of Atarib and the town of al-Azizmah in western Aleppo countryside witnessed chaos and attacks on Turkish points by Syrian protesters.
In areas under Turkish influence in Aleppo countryside, clashes with automatic weapons occurred between armed protesters on one side and Turkish forces on the other, in front of the Saraya building in Afrin city in northern Aleppo countryside, resulting in the death of one protester and injury of 7 others from gunfire during clashes.
The Observatory added that “a group of Turkish border guards (gendarmerie) fired live ammunition at protesters who stormed the border crossing of Jarablus, with no information about human or material losses.”
Turkey and allied Syrian factions have controlled border areas in northern Syria since 2016.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the recent wave of violence against Syrian refugees in Turkey, stating that “regardless of their identities, setting fire to streets and homes is unacceptable,” emphasizing the necessity of not using hate speech for political gain.
Video recordings shared on social media showed a grocery store being set on fire in Kayseri.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya mentioned on the “X” platform that Turkish citizens apprehended the suspected Syrian harasser and handed him over to the police.
