Stêrk Organisation for Children's Rights called on international organisations to take action after the murder of a 16-year-old boy by Turkish soldiers.
In north-east Syria, a teenager was shot dead by Turkish border guards while attempting to cross the border into northern Kurdistan on Sunday. According to the authorities, the victim was 16-year-old Hisên El Selmo who is said to have tried to cross the border near Qamishlo with other young people. The group was shot at by the Turkish forces without warning. According to reports, the boy was shot in the head and died instantly. At least one other young person was also hospitalized in Qamishlo with a gunshot wound.
The attack on the young people took place not far from the village of Dûda (also known as Dudan), which is around 18 kilometres north-west of Qamishlo. It is only a few hundred metres from the village centre to the Syrian-Turkish border fence. After the incident, a Russian patrol travelled to the scene at the border together with the Internal Security Forces (Asayişh) to evacuate the group from the danger zone and take them to the clinic. Local residents had previously tried in vain to rescue the children from the line of fire.
On the border strip between northern Syria and Turkey, there are repeated cross-border attacks by Turkish soldiers on civilians. The victims are often people trying to flee the war-torn country. Others are villagers cultivating their fields near the border. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), at least eight people have been killed in such attacks by Turkish border guards in northern Syria since the beginning of the year. One of them was a woman.
Stêrk Organisation for Monitoring and Protecting Children's Rights made a statement against the massacre of 16-year-old Hisên El Selmo by Turkish soldiers.
During the statement made in Halabja Garden in Qamishlo, banners unfurled read: ‘No to Turkey's attacks’, ‘Enough with rape’, ‘No to massacres’ and ‘We want a life in peace’.
The statement read by Rojda Xelîl, a member of the Stêrk Organisation, pointed out that the Turkish state continues to attack North and East Syria every day. The statement called on the international community to take action and stop the attacks as soon as possible.
