Zehra recounted the details of the horrors she faced in a regime prison.
The Syrian regime has imprisoned thousands of women and children, who are subjected to systematic torture and assault. Some of the women who survived these inhumane Syrian prisons were hosted in Turkey’s Istanbul as part of an event organized by 10 nongovernmental organizations, including the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH).
Two of these women who use the pseudonyms Zehra and Juri recounted the details of the horrors they faced in an interview with Yeni Şafak daily.
Inmates prefer death over prison
Zehra said she was attacked by regime troops while she was taking necessities to a family in need. “I spent one year in prison. I was subjected to every kind of cruelty and torture. They electrocuted me after tying my hands behind my back. They took pleasure in rape and violence. It got so bad I wanted to die,” she added.
The U.S.-led coalition against Daesh on Monday defended striking a hospital in eastern Syria.The Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) said in a press release that Daesh terrorists used Hajin Hospital in Deir ez-Zor province as a platform to engage partner forces on Sunday."By these actions, ISIS caused the hospital to lose its protected status afforded by the Law of Armed Conflict by using a facility otherwise protected under the Geneva Conventions," said the coalition, using an alternate name for Daesh.Maj. Gen. Patrick Roberson, CJTF-OIR Commanding General, said the terrorist organization "has no regard for human life”."As we close in on them, they are getting more and more desperate and are hiding behind the safety of mosques, hospitals and other protected sites," said Roberson.In a briefing, Pentagon spokesman Col. Rob Manning said using hospitals is "unacceptable", which he said was a "standard tactic" used by the Daesh terror group.Manning said U.S. forces came under fire from the hospital. He had yet to comment on the casualties from the hospital strike.In October, several mosques were targeted by the coalition in Hajin, which left dozens of residents dead.
US-led coalition defends strike on hospital in Syria
Abandoned by their own families
“When I got out of the prison, my troubles didn’t end. I was ashamed because of what happened to me. It is especially difficult for Syrian women. They threatened our lives so that we would stay away [from our families and friends]. The hardest part was being rejected by our families and loved ones,” Zehra said.
Regime prisons are a “real hell”
“I was arrested in Lattakia and taken to an air force intelligence questioning center. The two months I spent there were the longest two months of my life. I was subjected to the worst abuse and torture. It was a real hell. I love photography and have been taking photos for 17 years. Like everyone else, I too had a normal life. Then all of this happened. I managed to come here, but many of my family members are still in Syria. I can only talk to them on the phone and am constantly worried about them,” Juri said.
Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terror group knows it cannot hold the regions under its occupation in Syria, relying only on the U.S.’s political and diplomatic prowess to “block a possible operation” by Turkey, according to a prominent defector from the terror group. Speaking exclusively to Yeni Şafak daily, Talal Sillo, who served for two years as the terror group’s spokesman, said that a Turkish operation in the east of the Euphrates River is the PKK’s “worst nightmare.” Sillo, a former high-ranking commander and spokesperson of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who defected from the terrorist group last month, is currently in Turkey.He divulged details of the U.S. arming terrorist groups in the region and what some U.S. officials thought about the PKK/PYD's presence in northern Syria.Over Turkey’s objections, the U.S. has provided the PKK/PYD with arms, calling it an ally in the fight against Daesh, ignoring its status as a terrorist group, he stated.He also explained how the PKK-terrorist dominated force was formed and how the U.S. made a controversial deal to allow Daesh terrorists to leave the city of Raqqah before it was liberated.The old structure will be liquidated Sillo said that the U.S.’s true intentions behind placing a $12-million bounty over the heads of so-called PKK commanders Murat Karayılan, Duran Kalkan and Cemil Bayık are very clear. “It was to send a message inside the terror group to move Shahin Cilo into the spotlight. Abdullah Öcalan sent the U.S. a message through his lawyers, saying ‘Shahin Cilo is my successor. If you want to maintain presence in the region for the long term, your task is to protect him.’ Thus, the PKK’s center will be Syria from now on and the old structure will be liquidated by the U.S.”PKK continues to recruit children in Iraq’s SinjarU.S. trained 50,000 PKK terrorists The U.S. trained 50,000 terrorists in areas occupied by the PKK in Syria, pointed Silo. “However, this patchwork army can be dispersed through a small intervention. The SDF is only the banner and the 35,000 of those trained by the U.S are Arabs. They won’t show any resistance. Because Arabs know they’re being used. They trust neither the U.S. nor the PKK. In the same vein, the U.S. and PKK do not trust them. Terrorists who will show resistance are between 10,000 and 12,000.”Commanders killed, money burnt The operation carried out by Turkey in Karaçok came as a shock for the PKK terror group, said Tala Silo. “Everyone in the organization realized ‘everything has come to an end. Turkey launched its operation and the Syrian Kurdistan dream is over.’ News of a possible aerial operation resulted in headquarters being evacuated. In the following 10 days, we slept in camouflaged positions in the desert.” Silo said that 75 terrorists were killed in the Karaçok bombings. “Those are mostly key names. Nalin, the Syria responsible for the PKK’s so-called women unit, the YPJ, was also killed in the attack. Hundreds of millions of dollars in PKK money were burned in the attack. That operation dealt a large blow to the organization in every respect.”Turkey 'neutralizes' 26 terrorists over past week“He’s personally in charge of money and weapons”The U.S. is controlling the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Syria with the help of a terrorist on Turkey’s most-wanted list, said Sillo. Shahin Cilo, who’s known as terror ringleader Abdullah Öcalan’s foster son and whose real name is Ferhat Abdi Shahin, was tasked along with Bahoz Erdal of managing the PKK’s Syria arm since the beginning of the Syrian war. Wıth the start of the American intervention in Syria in 2015, Shahin answered directly to U.S. Special Envoy Brett Mcgurk and military officials as the PKK’s leading commander in charge of running operations from behind the scenes. Shahin, who’s on Turkey’s most-wanted list, was personally in charge of receiving money, weapons, munitions and other aid. He was spotted in 2017 with U.S. Special Operations soldiers in Syria’s Mount Karaçok. After protests by Tukey, the Pentagon finally acknowledged dealing with Shahin, who they called “General Mazlum,” and claimed he was a commander of the SDF in a scandalous statement.
‘Turkish op in the east of the Euphrates is PKK’s worst nightmare’
Turkish security forces have held some 251,794 irregular migrants so far this year, the country’s interior minister said on Monday.Speaking at the Intergovernmental Conference on Global Compact for Migration in Morocco, Süleyman Soylu said: “There is an increase of 56 percent compared to the figures of the first 11 months of last year.”Turkey also deported some 53,860 people and nabbed 5,522 human smugglers this year, he added.Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.Turkey donates 16 tons of food aid to LibyaAmong the migrants held in 2017 in Turkey, the majority came from Pakistan, followed by Afghans and Syrians.During his speech, the interior minister also noted Turkey hosts over 3.6 million Syrians under “temporary protection” status and provides education to 916,074 of them every year.Turkey has spent more than $32 billion from its own national resources for helping and sheltering refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war.In Turkey, disabled Syrian girl's dreams come trueTurkish foster father of Korean war orphan remembered
Turkey hosts over 3.6 mln Syrians under 'temporary protection' status: Interior Minister
After a Turkish aid group paid for life-changing surgery to give her prosthetic legs, an 8-year-old Syrian refugee girl on Saturday left Turkey walking tall, living out her greatest dream. Maya Meri lacks working legs due to a congenital condition, and had to struggle to walk using spare tin cans attached by her father until this June, when the Turkish Red Crescent brought her to Turkey. Months later, on Saturday Maya and Ali Meri, her father, returned to the Ser Ceble refugee camp in Idlib, northwestern Syria after the successful treatment, accompanied by a delegation from the Turkish Red Crescent. The Syrian girl got global attention when Anadolu Agency reporters based in Idlib shared her story with the world on June 21, which led to the Turkish Red Crescent offering her a helping hand. "I have one dream, that is to walk," she told Anadolu Agency over the summer. Her father told Anadolu Agency that he was grateful to everyone involved in her treatment."We got the prostheses thanks to them. We thank all those who made our lives easier. Maya is so happy to have prostheses. We would like to thank the Turkish government," he said. Kadir Akgunduz, the Turkish Red Crescent's Syria field coordinator, said that they began to take care of Maya some five months ago."Today, she rejoined her family on her feet," he said. Akgunduz said Maya was happy with her siblings, adding that the Turkish Red Crescent would give her family further assistance. Syria has been locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed or displaced in the conflict, mainly by regime airstrikes targeting opposition-held areas.
In Turkey, disabled Syrian girl's dreams come true