AK47 gunshots rattled through the air at the Immigration centre as I arrived yesterday. People in the queue started to panic and run and lines of armed men appeared on the hill overlooking the centre. Gunfire is common in Northern Syria especially at weddings and celebrations but unfortunately this was not the case this time. The man who was sitting next to me on the bus coming from Iraq had been shot dead as he left the centre.
Soldiers and staff ran to were the shots were coming from but, to my surprise, none of them were armed. It was only 2 minutes later, a long time in these situations, that other staff went there with weapons. Minutes later 2 men had been arrested and were being brought down to the detention centre, again by unarmed Asayish, AANES Internal security forces. The man who had committed the murder had surrendered himself immediately.
A member from Asayish explained to us later that it was a Family Feud. The victim had previously murdered the man’s son and fled to Iraq. My friends said that it is rare to actually witness these events despite the fact that they are happening sometimes.
A woman Asayish member working at the centre told us:
“We pro-actively work among the communities we are from to resolve these Feuds before they get violent but it is a difficult cultural work”.
The Asayish organisation is the biggest of the armed internal security organisations and must renew its license for internal security work every year with AANES, the network of local civilian şaredarî (municipalities). Every week Asayish members are required to sit around in circles and read philosophy and her-story together.
We will be making a short film about working life, autonomy and management in the Asayish organisation later this year…
The Teal Diary 