QAMISHLI, Syria _ They marched through the streets of this ethnic-Kurdish hub along the border with Turkey on Saturday, denouncing Ankara's expansion into Syrian border regions that are the traditional homeland of many Kurds.
Their epithets targeted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has championed a a policy of seizing such territory.
"Long live Rojava!" the demonstrators chanted, using the term for the de facto self-governing ethnic Kurdish region in northern Syria. "Erdogan the criminal! Erdogan the terrorist!"
Protesters hoisted banners declaring "Defend Rojava" and bearing the likenesses of Kurdish fighters who died in the U.S.-backed battle against Islamic State militants in northern and eastern Syria before President Trump's withdrawal of most American forces.
"Our sons and brothers were killed defending this land from the terrorists, and now Erdogan is sending them back," said Badyaa Ameen, 55, who was among hundreds of women leading the march. "We will never give up our land. We will reclaim our territory."
While Erdogan has drawn the Kurds' principal ire, there is also broad indignation at Trump's withdrawal from northern Syria _ a move widely seen as a green light for Ankara to launch its Oct. 9 attack across a broad swath of the Syrian border.
The Kurdish-led forces had been Washington's major partner in the battle against Islamic State, a bloody campaign that cost the lives of thousands of Kurds.
"Shame on the United States _ Trump betrayed us," said Ameen. "He gave the go-ahead to Erdogan to steal our land. But we will not surrender."
