RISH AYNO (RAS AL-AYN), Syria – Pictures taken by the Ezdina Foundation have exposed the demolition of a Yazidi village in the occupied territories around Rish Ayno (Ras al-Ayn) by the Turkish military. According to the statements of locals, the Turkish military plans to build a military base at the location.
According to the Ezdina Foundation website, the Turkish occupation has prevented the return of civilians of the village to their homes, accusing them of being loyal to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“Two months ago, the Turkish forces prevented us from burying a deceased person in his hometown, on the pretext that it was a military zone,” some villagers stated to an Ezdina Foundation team.
The Ezdina monitoring team confirmed via photographs that 30 out of 200 houses in the village of Daoudia have been demolished by Turkish forces, in addition to bulldozing the lands of ten families. The names of affected villagers have been documented.
The Ezdani Foundation stated that the Turkish forces bulldozed vast areas of agricultural land and established large dirt berm in the vicinity of the military base on the northeastern side of the village. Observation towers, radars, a launching area for drones, and other military equipment have been installed in the area.
Turkey has set up several military bases in the rural areas of Rish Ayno and Tal Abyad following its invasion of the region in October of last year. An estimated 300,000 civilians were displaced from their homes by the invasion, many of those seeking to return have been denied access to their property.
