The backstory of how Kurdish child Eva Khoja found herself in front of a news camera making a heartfelt plea for an end to hostilities in northern Syria is a complex one.
In the video, which surfaced on October 17 and captured by Kurdistan24, the youngster calls on US President Donald Trump to end the conflict.
“To UNICEF, to United Nations, to Trump… I am a forgotten child,” the young girl tells the camera.
“I didn’t hold the weapons. Will you give me my childhood?”
“This is my message. Please, please stop this war.”
The Turkish military and its Syrian proxies launched an offensive against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria on October 9, with the aim of creating a buffer zone roughly 30 kilometres deep.
In the latest move, Syria's army and police called on Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria to join their ranks to fight "one enemy", Turkey, a proposal the Kurdish forces swiftly rejected.
The story behind the video
While Eva called for the end to hostilities in northeast Syria, the location where the popular video was captured was in fact Hawler, or Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan Region, located in northern Iraq.
Eva's mother Midya Bozan and husband Ahmed had moved the family to the city following a tumultuous episode where they were forced to flee their northern Syrian hometown, Kobani, in 2014.
Their decision to flee was made when Ahmed, who is a lawyer, was threatened by IS militants.
Within hours of the threat, the family fled towards the Turkish border wearing only the clothes on their backs.
Eva was one and a half years old at the time and wasn't aware of what was happening around her, her mother said.
Midya said the family was very afraid during the journey to Turkey, which was entirely on foot. They finally crossed the border into Turkey, where they stayed for two months.
It was when the Kurdistan Regional Government, which is the official ruling body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region, announced it would open its borders to the Kurds of Syria that thousands decided to settle there.
In November 2014, Midya and her family relocated to Erbil, where they felt safe.
Due to the latest hostilities in northern Syria, Midya said the family was again going through tough times, especially Eva who was always asking about uncles, aunts and cousins back in Kobani.
“When Eva speaks to her cousins, they tell her that they can’t attend school because of the war," she said.
"This hurts Eva very much and the situation is impacting on her hence she is very worried about them.”
Midya described how her daughter came to be filmed by Kurdistan24.
“That day a demonstration took place in Hawler (Erbil) in support of the Kurds in northern Syria. We had just finished school and a journalist was reporting on the demonstration.
"Eva ran to the reporter and told him she wants to say a few words about children of Rojava (Western Kurdistan) and the war."
Midya said that her family's hearts and minds remained with their homeland and the people in Rojava.
“Our people there lack the most basic human rights and the right to live peacefully. When children go to school their parents are always in fear of something happening to them or not making it home,” she said.
“Eva is always asking about what’s happening in northeast Syria or Rojava. We try to avoid the subject but she is a very smart little girl and wants to know why there is war there. I hope Eva’s message reaches the whole world and everyone lives in peace.”
Midya said Eva and her grandfather were very close, and that it was very hard when he passed away.
“When Eva was younger and we were still in Kobani every time she heard the sound of planes she would say mummy it’s here it’s going to hit us.
"I miss my homeland, my memories, my grandfather's house and my mother's grave."
