Rojava Accuses Turkey of Smuggling ISIS Wives

ISIS wives held at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, Asharq Al-Awsat
ISIS wives held at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Rojava Accuses Turkey of Smuggling ISIS Wives

ISIS wives held at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, Asharq Al-Awsat
ISIS wives held at al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, Asharq Al-Awsat

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava, accused Turkey of smuggling and receiving ISIS members and their families and supporting the terror group’s cells while crippling the counter-ISIS efforts of the international coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Commission of the Rojava, stressed that Turkey’s admission to smuggling a Moldavian ISIS wife and her four children represents hard evidence that the country is involved with extremist cells.

The SDF had captured 24 individuals suspected of being ISIS recruits as part of its second phase of countering terror.

The Rojava, in a statement, pointed out to documented evidence that confirms Turkey’s involvement with ISIS.

In its statement, the Rojava said that Ankara helping save a Moldavian woman and her children from al-Hol camp is dangerous evidence that Turkey continues to seek revitalizing ISIS in the region.

The Turkish intelligence had “freed” the woman and her four children from the camp, where ISIS wives and family members are held in northeastern Syria, Anadolu reported on July 17.

The Turkish state-run agency claimed that the woman, “Natalia Barkal,” had traveled to Syria with her husband and children in 2013 to “do business.”

Anadolu didn’t clarify what type of business would take an entire family to a war-torn country. The identity of her husband or his whereabouts also were not disclosed.

According to Turkey’s claims, Barkal and her four children were illegally held in al-Hol by Kurdish forces. The Turkish intelligence “freed” them upon an official request from Moldavian authorities.

Al-Hol, which is located in eastern al-Hasakah, is hosting 67,000 people, including 40,000 family members of ISIS fighters. An entire section of the camp is dedicated for foreign wives of ISIS terrorists.

The camp is run by the US-backed SDF.

Omar, for his part, said that all women who escaped the camp had headed towards Turkey. According to investigations into women who attempted escaping, they were planning to head to Turkey.

SDF authorities at the camp thwarted the attempt of four women to escape with their children two days ago.



'No Eid' for West Bank Palestinians Who Lost Sons in Israeli Raids

Internally displaced Palestinians walk in the streets during Eid al-Adha in Gaza City, 06 June 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Internally displaced Palestinians walk in the streets during Eid al-Adha in Gaza City, 06 June 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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'No Eid' for West Bank Palestinians Who Lost Sons in Israeli Raids

Internally displaced Palestinians walk in the streets during Eid al-Adha in Gaza City, 06 June 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
Internally displaced Palestinians walk in the streets during Eid al-Adha in Gaza City, 06 June 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Abeer Ghazzawi had little time to visit her two sons' graves for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha before Israeli soldiers cleared the cemetery near the refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The Israeli army has conducted a months-long operation in the camp which has forced Ghazzawi, along with thousands of other residents, from her home.

For Ghazzawi, the few precious minutes she spent at her sons' graves still felt like a small victory.

"On the last Eid (Eid al-Fitr, celebrating the end of Ramadan in March), they raided us. They even shot at us. But this Eid, there was no shooting, just that they kicked us out of the cemetery twice", the 48-year-old told AFP.

"We were able to visit our land, clean up around the graves, and pour rosewater and cologne on them", she added.

Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday, is one of the biggest holidays in the Muslim calendar.

As part of the celebrations, families traditionally visit the graves of their loved ones.

In the Jenin camp cemetery, women and men had brought flowers for their deceased relatives, and many sat on the side of their loved ones' graves as they remembered the dead, clearing away weeds and dust.

An armored car arrived at the site shortly after, unloading soldiers to clear the cemetery of its mourners who walked away solemnly without protest.

Ghazzawi's two sons, Mohammad and Basel, were killed in January 2024 in a Jenin hospital by undercover Israeli troops.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group claimed the two brothers as its fighters after their deaths.

Like Ghazzawi, many in Jenin mourned sons killed during one of the numerous Israeli operations that have targeted the city, a known bastion of Palestinian armed groups fighting Israel.

-'There is no Eid'-

In the current months-long military operation in the north of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, Israeli forces looking for militants have cleared three refugee camps and deployed tanks in Jenin.

Mohammad Abu Hjab, 51, went to the cemetery on the other side of the city to visit the grave of his son, killed in January by an Israeli strike that also killed five other people.

"There is no Eid. I lost my son -- how can it be Eid for me?" he asked as he stood by the six small gravestones of the dead young men.

The Israeli military did not offer details at the time but said it had carried out "an attack in the Jenin area".

"There's no accountability, no oversight", lamented Abu Hjab.

"One of the victims (of the strike) was just a kid, born in 2008 -— so he was only 16 years old."

"I still have three other children. I live 24 hours a day with no peace of mind", he added, referring to the army's continued presence in Jenin.

All around him, families sat or stood around graves at Jenin's eastern neighborhood cemetery, which they visited after the early morning Eid prayer at the city's nearby Great Mosque.

The mosque's imam led a prayer at the cemetery for those killed in Gaza and for the community's dead, particularly those killed by the Israeli army.

Hamam al-Sadi, 31, told AFP he has visited the cemetery at every religious holiday since his brother was killed in a strike, to "just sit with him."

-'Our only hope'-

Several graves marked "martyr" -- a term broadly applied to Palestinian civilians killed by Israel -- were decorated with photos of young men holding weapons.

Mohammad Hazhouzi, 61, lost a son during a military raid in November 2024.

He has also been unemployed since Israel stopped giving work permits to West Bank residents after the Gaza war erupted.

Despite the army's continued presence in Jenin, Hazhouzi harbored hope.

"They've been there for months. But every occupation eventually comes to an end, no matter how long it lasts".

"God willing, we will achieve our goal of establishing our Palestinian state. That's our only hope," he said.

"Be optimistic, and good things will come".