PROTESTORS turned out in Oxford this afternoon to rail against the Turkish Government’s attack on Afrin, in Syria.
About 50 members of the Oxford Emergency Committee and members of the public were at Oxford’s Martyrs’ Memorial at St Giles today to hold a protest vigil from midday.
The group wants the British Government to do more to help the people in the region who they say have been subjected to repeated shelling and bombing.
Committee member Rojeen Qaqu said: “We are holding a vigil to highlight the suffering of the people of Afrin and to bear witness to all who have been killed and injured.
“What is happening in Afrin is a tragedy. More than 100 have died and 350 have been seriously injured.
“It is ethnic cleansing, it is a crime against humanity.
“We have got about 50 people standing here raising their voice and we hope that somebody will listen to us and hear about the situation.”
She added: “It really breaks my heart for the Kurdish community of Afrin and we feel helpless about the situation.”
Ms Qaqu previously said the vigil ‘honoured fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces who have lost their lives in the defence of Afrin’.
Now members are calling for the UN to demand an immediate ceasefire in Syria, including Afrin.
The Oxford Emergency Committee was set up by the Kurdish and Syrian community living in Oxford in response to the Turkish military invasion of Afrin on January 20.
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