SOHR interview with political activists | Afrin occupation, game of interest, major powers in Syria

Turkey and its proxy factions continue violations in occupied Afrin by committing crimes against the indigenous inhabitants and impose policies of compulsory displacement and to control the lands, loot the houses and turn them into hideouts for illegal and immoral practices.

Beside invasion and violations, the Turkish regime tended to change identity of the occupied region, loot its bounties, change the language and raise the Turkish banner instead of the Syrian flag. Afrin is a strategic city for Turkey because its geographically connects all border regions stationed between Jerbalus, western Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea, and also eliminate any connection among the regions under control of the Kurds.

Since early hours of invasion of Afrin, SOHR has condemned series of crimes and exposed it to the international public opinion. The international silence towards the Turkish aggression contradicts all international laws and norms and slogans of many international parties about respect of human rights and people sovereignty.

Dalsheer Afasta told SOHR, it is easy to know the reasons for intervention in the Syrian affairs when we release the expansion reality of the elites that feed on crisis and chaos. Whenever crises happen, Turkey is in presence clearly especially with rise of the Arab Spring and the years that followed those experienced imperialistic intentions hide and appear by time. Turkey has intentions to establish new Ottoman project in a new garment, and attempts to pass its project under illusionist slogans like peace, cooperation and brotherhood. But what had happened in the past decade is evidence to unveil the Turkish intentions.

Concerning the Syrian affairs, the political activist sees that the long neighboring borders beside the Syrian crisis has been a suitable opportunity for the Turkish side to intervene and achieve its interests. Turkey has exploited the Syrian events to support the hardline radical groups like ISIS and HTS and other Takfiri groups in different countries that deemed the Turkish lands as the passage to Syria or local factions that adhered the Takfiri ideologies and name themselves as tool of Turkish orders in master and slave equation.

He explained that Turkey has deceived wide segment of the Syrian via its romantic and humanitarian slogans about siding the Syrian people to confront the Syrian regime, and promoted deceiving logos of peace, security and instability for Syrians beside restoring their dignity and freedom, but the undebatable truth was the totally the opposite.

Evidences and recurrent events proved that interests to Turkish policies while the Syrian wounds have been bleeding for above ten years and millions of Syrians have been suffering diaspora in the neighboring countries and other countries in the world. Turkey has moreover worked on looting the Syrian wealth like oil and caused closure of hundreds of factories and moved it to its lands.

He reiterated, after years passed and Turkish allegations were exposed, still there are many people believe its propaganda about Syria.

On the Kurdish side, Turkey has interfered in several Kurdish areas with its army and mercenaries of the Syrian people in Afrin and all along the two towns of Siri Kanyei (Ras al-Ain) and Kari See (Tal Abyad).

People who follow the political affairs would realize the truth and the historical Turkish enmity for the Kurdish people in everywhere since the Turkish state has been established 100 years ago. Turkey has never proposed just solutions for the 30 million Kurdish people on its lands, while Turkey attempts to hide this agony under deceiving justifications.

He referred to comments of one of the Turkish leaders, mostly Soliman Dmeriayal, who said “if there is a Kurdish tent in south Africa, we would go to destroy it.”

Afasta after the eruption of the Syrian crisis, the PYD adopted policy of the third line that totally avoiding the Syrian regime and the opposition agendas. The party has clear vision about the repercussion of the chaos that awaited Syria since the crisis started, while the other Kurdish political parties that have differences with the Democratic Union have involved in line of the Syrian opposition at the political and the moral levels, but they haven’t taken part in any military actions.

The Democratic Union Party has sought organizing the Kurdish society and started building institutions that protect the society starting with the military institution and passing through the civil and administrative one. The party also pursued building good relations with the other components in north and east Syria from the Arabs, Assyrian, and others.

He added that Turkey has been monitoring closely the situation and realized that the Syrian Kurds will have position in the future, and no long would be mere figures with no voice or role and wouldn’t be eventually limited within the Syrian geography, but their influences would be expanded to inside Turkey to plant confidence and enthusiasm in souls of the Kurdish people inside Turkey, who would in return ask for their legitimate lost rights, which is against the Turkish content.

By time, Turkey started to practically assault the Kurdish regions, by firstly pushed ISIS elements in Kubani’s city that witnessed the most heinous crimes against the civilians in 2014, but the Kurds with their simple capabilities have defended their city and confronted the savageness of ISIS until the US has interfered and supported the Kurdish fighters with air bombardment.

He added Turkey has always repeated it doesn’t deem the Kurdish people as enemies but it only fights some Kurdish organizations that constitute danger on the Turkish national security and it only protects its borders and national security. Meanwhile, the Kurdish fighters haven’t absolutely threatened the Turkish borders likewise the SDF also.

Afasta also commenting on the Turkish and the Russian meeting interests when Turkey launched along with thousands of Syrian mercenaries’ aggression on Afrin city and countryside after its people have been living in peace under the Autonomous Administration. Afrin was a region of Russian influence in context for dividing the areas of influence between the US and Russia and the latter has presented Afrin to Turkey via a dirty deal where safety of people was of minor priority.

He mentioned the Kurdish special characteristics in the region as also one of other reasons that encouraged Turkey to occupy Afrin, as the Kurds have formed 98 percent of the population. Also, Afrin is the last area at the west direction within the map of distributing Kurdish areas in north Syria, where Turkey remained concerned over establishing Kurdish min-state at the Mediterranean Sea.

According to Afasta, the Turkish army has managed to invade Afrin after two months of resistance against all types of fatal weapons, where more than 300,000 civilians of Kurds have been displaced and never dared to return back fearing revenge. So, percentage of the Kurds in Afrin is less than 40 percent and the majority of those displaced live in camps in al-Shohabaa region, 20 km far from Afrin City.

The political activists added, of course the Turkish aggression hasn’t stopped with invading Afrin that its city and villages since March 2018 are witnessing series of daily crime against the remaining Kurds in their homes by terrorist groups that entered with the Turkish army.

The crimes impacted humans, trees and even stones with different kind of destruction and murder either direct of under torture, random compulsory detention, kidnap and then ask for ransom, rapping women in detention centers as well as looting harvest daily especially the olive that was the main source of income for the people in Afrin directly of via laws and regulations for imposing taxes and levies. The Turkish forces also in Afrin have looted house of the indigenous inhabitants for settlers from other Syrian region to uproot the Kurdish special feature and conduct demographic changes.

Concerning Ankara’s endeavors to conduct demographic changes, regime occupation imposed trading Turkish Lira and Turkish language in the schools and sabotaged historical attractions and religious sites of Izadi and forces many to propagate Islamic religion, breaking tombs and graveyards of martyrs to vanish signs of Kurdish deaths in the region. The Turkish forces and its proxies also build settlements as villages like “Kuwait al-Rahma“ that is funded by Kuwaiti bodies, “al-Ayady al-Baydaa” and “Live with Dignity” associations that contributed in building the settlements.

Concerning the displaced people, they don’t dare to return back. Just few numbers returned, but many of them have been arrested or kidnapped once arriving their villages or houses.

The political activist said restoring life in Afrin and other occupied areas in north Syria depend on collabortating efforts of all Syrians in face of the Turkish invader at least politically and diplomatically. Syrians should understand that Turkey has sold illusions to the Syrians with regard to their safety, dignity and protection while dirty deals are made for interests of Turkey.

He reiterated that Arab countries with strategic wight have role especially Egypt, Saudi and the UAE because their coordination will confront the Turkish greediness that seeks demolishing the Kurdish role and presence in Syria.

The Turkish ambitions have been obvious via its blatant intervention in the Arab countries affairs in light of the Arab Spring vial boosting the Brotherhood role either in Egypt or Tunisia, and then Syria and Libya, the letter seen direct Turkish presence of officers, experts, jets, mercenaries and ships that have inflamed seditions and contributed in fighting the Libyan National Army just to empower Brotherhood and expand the Ottoman influence.

He further referred to uprooting the influence of the Brotherhood in Egypt and Tunis which highly provoked the Turkish side and limited its ambitions, but more efforts have to be exerted by the Arab countries and the international actors in this regard.

On the other hand, Aly Essa, manger of “Ezdinya” institution which is concerned with monitoring violations, told SOHR “It became obvious for everyone the enmity of the current Turkish government for the Kurds for national and ethic reasons. Those monitoring the method of fighting in the Kurdish cities can see the most heinous violations against the Kurdish civilians that are evolved to crimes of war and genocide.

Essa said the second article of the UN agreement for preventing the crime of genocide means “any action taken intentionally for partial or complete destruction of religious, ethnic or national group”. He deemed the crimes of murder against the Kurdish civilians and deporting them from their houses as well as the demographic change that included destroying the Yazidi religious sites and force the Yazidis to turn into Muslims, are all crimes committed to destroy the Kurds and the Yazidi religion.

To stop those genocide crimes, he emphasized the importance of taking humanitarian stance by the international community against the ongoing Turkish practices that employ the same mentality of Ottoman expansion and genocide that killed the Armans. Such mentality has pushed for intervention in the neighboring countries affairs and commit severe crimes.

According to Essa, the international community should pursued Turkey or force it to condemn its crimes like Berlin did with the Nazi party and compensate victims of that painful era.

He added that Turkey has exploited some Syrians with different political and military affiliations for increasing the division in Syria. Turkey has used some Syrians as military weapons for fighting outside the Syrian borders as well as exploiting the issue of the refugees to harvest gains from the European Union. Such Turkish intervention in the Syrian affair has impacted the Syrian revolution in its first year.

Kurdish political activist, Ibrahim Ibrahim, told SOHR that wicked Turkey has been involved in the game of destruction and narrow interests likewise the international devil factors who only meet in wars and murders of people.

The game in Afrin is big where many terrorism and devil forces have directly or indirectly take part and the Kurdish people is the only victim. It is a game beyond the boundaries of human mind and could only be defeated by the Syrian people and its gathering around one democratic national project the combine all Syrians, existing all the occupation forces either Turkish, Russians, and American until the Syrians got control of their country’s wealth.

He considered the Syrian situation is associated with large interest of the big powers that administer the world, referring to kicking the Turkish forces and its proxies from Syria could happen with Syrian-Syrian historical consensus that could change lot of the game rules for the interests of the Syrian people.

The Kurdish politicians deemed the demographic change in Afrin is a genocide against a group of humans whose only fault is they are belonging to a peaceful nation, stressing that forces of hegemony attempt to abolish the language, culture and history of Afrin which is a crime against humanity at sight of the world that seems to promote the people rights while many governments are collaborating with Turkey in its crime against the Kurdish people in Afrin whose population are now representing 50 percent instead of 90 percent before the Turkish invasion.