Turkish President Erdoğan has used and continues to use Turkmens as an excuse in his anti-Kurd based Syria and Iraq plans. He formed many gangs with those he managed to recruit. He made MİT operatives speak against Rojava and Northern Syria in the name of Turkmens and he let them loose in there. Turkmens who seek refuge in Rojava know that Erdoğan’s concern isn’t for the wellbeing of Turkmens.

THEY TOOK THE YOUNG AND LEFT THE OLD

One of the Iraqi refugees who sought refuge in Rojava the other day was a 80 year old Turkmen woman from Tal Afar. The grandmother had two of her grandchildren with her. She said her 3 young sons were taken by Turkey, and herself and other Turkmen elders like her were abandoned. She lived under ISIS tyranny for more than 2 years. The grandmother started to talk about her escape: “We left when we found a way out. It was the middle of the night. By 3 a.m. we took off in the desert. When we were on the way, I fell into the water and almost drowned. I fell three times. My hands bled. We arrived here and sought refuge. We sought refuge with the Kurds. We had been living with Kurds for a long time. My husband had a inn, he worked with Kurds. We lived together in Mosul for 15 years. Turkmens and Kurds are not different.”

WE PAID 300 DOLLARS EACH

Another Turkmen who has been living under ISIS occupation in Tal Afar for the last two years is Nasır. He managed to escape with his wife and children. They walked for 5 hours over Baaj during the night and arrived at the border of Hesekê. Nasır said:“There is ISIS tyranny on one hand and a violent war on the other in Tal Afar. Until now, we couldn’t find a way out. ISIS didn’t let us escape. Then they employed their own men. They took 300 dollars each from those who wanted to leave and took people up to a certain point, where they told people to just go.

WE HEARD THE SDF’S AND YPG’S CALL

We had heard of SDF and YPG. They said they treated people well and they fought for the people. They said they marched on to death for the people. We heard they said anybody who wants to escape ISIS can come, so we took to the road and arrived here. They greeted us very well. They shared their bread and water with us. Even though they themselves are at war, they risked hunger and thirst and gave everything to us. What more could they do?

WE STILL HAVEN’T GOTTEN OVER THE FEAR

Nasır said he grew up in Tal Afar and lately, there was nothing left in Tal Afar, no water, bread or electricity. He continued: “Our children were hungry and miserable. We had no other option but to leave our homes, fields and orchards and run. ISIS made us suffer. Even though we are safe, we still can’t talk about the bad things they have done for the fear. I will stay here. I’m thinking about the future of my children. I won’t leave this place until our lands are liberated from the invasion.”

TURKMEN FROM KIRKUK: WE HAVE BEEN SAVED

A Turkmen from Kirkuk, 47 years old and a father of four, escaped from ISIS invaded villages of Kirkuk. “There was great tyranny. They didn’t let us breathe. We lived under torture. They made life hell. We ran from them and came to Kurdistan. We are alright here, it is comfortable. We are happy that we have been saved from death, torture and tyranny,” said the Turkmen from Kirkuk and added: “Our friends and family, people we were in contact with told us to flee ISIS and cross over to Rojava. They told us the Kurds are good, brave and merciful people. After the Mosul operation started, everywhere turned into a war zone. We started having shortages of food, water and electricity. We were afraid and abandoned. We risked death and took to the desert to come here. We didn’t die and we are here. We will live here from now on until our lands are liberated.”