Hundreds hold rally in Aleppo to protest presence of Turkish forces in Syria

Hundreds of protesters held a rally in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Saturday to denounce the presence of Turkish occupation forces in their country.

Protesters converged at Saadallah al-Jabiri Square at the heart of the provincial capital city of Aleppo, expressing strong resentment over deployment of Turkish troops and their allied Takfiri militants to their area, according to Syria’s official news agency SANA. 

The participants waved national Syrian flags and condemned Turkish soldiers and their allies over attacks against residential buildings and civilian infrastructure, demanding their withdrawal from Syria.

A similar rally was also held in the city of Tell Rifaat, located roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Aleppo, where participants lashed out at crimes being perpetrated by Turkish forces and their Takfiri mercenaries against Syrian civilians.

They underscored Syria’s territorial integrity, and stressed the need to confront attempts aimed at occupation and fragmentation of Syrian lands.

The demonstrators also voiced their support for Syrian government forces’ battle to purge Syrian soil from foreign-sponsored terrorist groups.

The demonstrations come amid the Turkish government’s call for the establishment of a so-called safe zone in the occupied northern part of Syria.

Following a cabinet meeting on May 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara aims to resume its efforts to create a 30-kilometer “safe zone” along its border with Syria.

“We will soon take new steps regarding the incomplete portions of the project we started on the 30-kilometer deep safe zone we established along our southern border," Erdogan said.

Syria rejects Turkey’s call for safe zone in northern Syria as ‘aggressive, colonial act’

Damascus rejects Turkey’s call to establish a so-called safe zone in the occupied northern part of Syria as an “aggressive, colonial act.”

The Turkish president did not provide further details, but said the operation would begin after Turkey’s military, intelligence and security forces completed their preparations.

Last week, he told lawmakers from his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in parliament that "we have such a sensitivity as protecting our borders from attacks by terrorists' organizations."

He has also urged NATO member states to support his country's efforts to establish a safe zone on the border with Syria.

Turkey has deployed forces in Syria in violation of the Arab country's territorial integrity. 

Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019 after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push militants of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) away from border areas.

Ankara views the US-backed YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

The Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria says the Turkish offensive has killed hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children since it started.

Damascus slams Erdogan’s call for establishment of safe zone in northern Syria

Syria has condemned in the strongest terms Turkish President Recep Tayyeb Erdogan’s call for the establishment of a safe zone in the occupied northern part of the Arab country.

Turkey has played a major role in supporting terrorists in Syria ever since a major foreign-backed insurgency overtook the country more than ten years ago.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials have said the Damascus government will respond through all legitimate means available to the ongoing ground offensive by Turkish forces and allied Takfiri militants in the northern part of the war-battered Arab country.

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