To take stock after ten years of the Syrian crisis and three years of the Turkish occupation of Afrin, the US Mission of the Syrian Democratic Council, with the Program on Peace-building and Human Rights at Columbia University, will host an online panel discussion entitled “Syrian Milestones: The View from Afrin and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.” The panel discussion will occur on Tuesday, April 6, at 10 AM, Eastern Time.
The discussion will address the Syrian crisis from the point of view of North and East Syria, focusing on US policy toward the region.
Attendees will hear from Zeinab Ahmed, a resident of Afrin, Syria, tell her story of survival of two years of abuse and detention in the Al Rai Prison, a prison managed by members of a Turkish-backed militia. Ms. Ahmed is a 63-year-old Kurdish woman from the Sherron District of Afrin. She was one of 41 detainees illegally held at Al Rai Prison.
Ms. Ahmed will be joined by Syria and Middle East experts David L. Phillips, Director of the Program on Peace-building and Human Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and Meghan Bodette, founder of the Missing Afrin Women Project. Sinam Sherkany Mohamad, co-chair of the US Representative of the Syrian Democratic Council, will offer opening remarks. Alan Makovsky, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, will moderate the event.
More information on the event is listed on the website of the US Mission of the Syrian Democratic Council.