afrinpost– Exclusive
The Society for Threatened Peoples International STPI (German: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker-International, GfbV-International) organisation has issued a statement alleging that Qatar is planning to support ethnic cleansing in the northern Syrian region of Afrin following the devastating earthquake that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6th.
The organization has revealed in a statement for “afrinpost” that: “Qatar plans to establish a new city called “City of Dignity” on the ruins of the destroyed town of Jindires in the countryside of Afrin. These plans would be a catastrophe for the Kurdish population in the area, adding that these actions are being carried out under the guise of humanitarian aid, with the intention of encouraging thousands of Arab and Turkmen families to settle in Afrin under Turkish protection, which currently controls the region.”
The organization also points out that independent investigators and media workers are not allowed to access the area, making it possible to escalate ethnic cleansing measures against the Kurds.
On February 12th, Qatar Charity announced the launch of the “City of Dignity” project to rebuild the earthquake-affected areas in northern Syria.
On February 19th, a large camp was opened near the village of Hekeche in Jindires district to accommodate earthquake victims from the devastated city of Jindires, funded by Qatar.
Ahmed Bakr, head of the Shieh\ Sheikh al-Hadid Local Council, explained in a video statement that the camp contains 437 tents, and expansion work is underway to reach a capacity of one thousand tents.
Prior to the Turkish invasion of Afrin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that “55% of Afrin’s population are Arabs and about 35% are Kurds, while the rest are Turkmen,” adding that “very soon our Kurdish, Arab, and Turkmen brothers in Afrin will thank us greatly after the pressure of the terrorist organization is eliminated,” according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency on January 22, 2018.
According to observers, the percentage of Kurds in the Afrin region has decreased to about 25% after its occupation on March 18, 2018, due to the displacement of more than 300,000 citizens. Turkey has brought in approximately 450,000 armed individuals and their families from the outskirts of Damascus, Homs, Idlib, and other regions to replace them, resettling them in the forcibly displaced Kurdish territories.
