After destroying mosques, killing 235 civilians, who holds Erdogan accountable?

Mohamed Abdel Ghaffar

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to achieve his expansionist aspirations in North Syria no matter the cost, as on October 9, 2019, he ordered a military offensive that claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and destroyed entire residential areas, clear war crimes punishable by international law.

This raises questions about who is holding the Turkish president accountable after he violated the rights of civilians, in a complete disregard for international laws, aiming to build a safe area along his country’s border with northern Syria.

The Turkish army, which broke into the Syrian border, did not differentiate between civilian and military buildings, as it intensified its attacks against civilian buildings, whether residential or public service buildings, in order to sow terror among citizens, and push them to flee from their homes.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has announced in a statement that the Turkish army targeted the main mosque of Ras al-Ain city with missiles by Turkish planes.

The SDF leadership published a video showing the damage to the mosque’s construction as a result of the Turkish bombing, represented in the destruction of parts of the roof and walls of the mosque.

The mosque was not the first of its kind targeting Turkish forces in targeting civilian buildings. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, on Friday, October 11, 2019, confirmed that Turkish forces shelled residential neighborhoods in the Syrian city of Qamishli, which holds one of the largest prisons holding Daesh terrorists.

The joint head of the Health Authority in northern and eastern Syria Joan Mustafa said that the Turkish attack killed 235 civilians, including 22 children, and 677 injured, in addition to targeting medical areas in the secret city of Kana despite the presence of dozens of wounded.

Turkey wants to create a 32-kilometer deep “safe zone” along a 420-kilometer stretch of its border to remove the Kurdish population and relocate Arab Syrian refugees into area.

Jwan Mustafa of the Syrian Kurdish health administration also said that Turkish fighter jets launched air strikes focused on civilian areas in northeastern Syria, before carrying out an evacuation of residents in the area.

Turkish fighter jets also targeted a civilian convoy of residents in northeastern Syria, on Sunday 13 October 2019, on its way to the city of Ras al-Ain, to participate in an event condemning the Turkish invasion, which resulted in dozens of deaths and injuries.

According to director of Kurds without Borders Organization, Kadar Beri, Turkey has pushed terrorists and its armed militias towards the Syrian border, with the aim of striking civilian institutions in this region, pointing out that the Kurds and the Syrian people will defend their land completely.

He further added that Turkey’s militias would work to awaken thousands of sleeper cells belonging to Daesh, with the aim to revive the terrorist organization and bring its terror back to life.