Afrinpost – Special
On the twenty-second of January 2018, the Turkish invasions accompanying the Muslim Brotherhood militia known as the “Syrian National Army” continued on their third day in the Kurdish region of Afrin in northern Syria, in order to deprive its residents of their legitimate right to manage themselves within the political system that they created Under the name “Self-Administration”, which managed to protect them from the fierce civil war that had raged for seven years since the outskirts of Afrin, and its people from the Syrian Democratic Forces did not allow the leakage of hidden terrorists and extremists under the names of revolution and freedom in order to sabotage their region and demolish the Syrian social fabric, in the service of the Turkish occupation ambitions seeking to restore the Ottoman Empire.
In this context, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the number of victims due to the Turkish bombing of the Afrin region, in northern Syria, increased to 50 martyrs. Combatants from the People’s Protection Units and the Syrian Democratic Forces, in addition to 19 people killed by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Turkish occupation, in addition to 9 unidentified bodies.
The Battle of the “Olive Branch” came after the international coalition announced that it was working to form a border security force of 30 thousand elements in eastern Syria, especially composed of Kurdish fighters, which angered Ankara, and prompted it to declare war on Afrin, after bartering operations it had undertaken in Astana meetings with Russia and the Syrian regime.
In agreement with Russia Erdogan affirmed that his country “does not retreat” in its military operation against Afrin, adding that the process is taking place “in accordance with” Moscow. “We are determined, the question of Afrin will be resolved, and we will not back down. We talked about this with our Russian friends, and we agree,” Erdogan said at a televised meeting in Ankara.
He added that “America tells us that the process should be limited in time, and not take too long (…) How dare you say that to us?” He continued, “We will leave after the end of the work, and we do not intend to stay.” These statements came after the expression of a number of countries including France, concerned about opening a new front in the Syrian conflict.
The YPG said that “Russia bears the responsibility for these attacks, as much as Turkey bears it.” The Syrian Democratic Forces called on the international coalition led by Washington, its most prominent supporter in the war against the jihadists, to “assume its responsibilities after the Turkish attack on the Kurdish-majority area of Afrin in northern Syria.
“The international coalition, our partner in the fight against terrorism, we have fought together honorable battles to defeat it … and it is close to declaring the final victory, clearly knows that Turkish intervention,” said Keno Gabriel, spokesman for the statement, during a press conference held by the leadership of these forces in the town of Ain Issa. Turkey came to empty this victory of its real content, ”and he stressed that“ the coalition is called upon to assume its responsibilities towards our forces and people in Afrin. ” And the “Syrian Democratic Forces” held a press conference, during which the spokesperson for “QSD” Keno Gabriel read a statement about the military operation on Afrin, in which he said: “Undoubtedly, the world’s efforts in combating terrorism have reached their climax with the liberation of Mosul and Raqqa, and the pursuit of the terrorist organization ISIS, until it has almost breathed its last in the Syrian Albukamal region, and given hope to the Syrian components and the world with freedom, democracy, diversity. And so, talking about stability and peace has become a topic of serious research for all concerned with ending the suffering of the Syrians, and so the international coalition was preparing for the official announcement of the final victory against ISIS terrorism within a week or more.
SDF touched on the sinful role of Russia in giving the Turkish enemy the green light to occupy Afrin, saying: “Likewise, we in the SDF are fully convinced that the Turkish state would not have dared bomb the villages and our cities, and commit massacres against our children, except that the Russian Federation has renounced its moral obligations and granted the green light for those to fly in the skies of Afrin, as this region is subject to the control of Russian radar stations, and no plane is allowed to fly without prior permission, so the Russian Federation is required to clarify the circumstances of this Turkish aggression Upon our peaceful people.
” In conclusion: “We in the SDF highly value the efforts of the countries that denounced this aggression, as we assure our people, that we are determined to defeat the invaders just as we defeated them in Kobani, and with the same high spirits, we salute the resilience of our people in Afrin clinging to their villages and cities, and Not being dragged into the games of displacement , as we are in the final stages of our struggle against terrorism and the conclusion to victory will be Afrin.
In this context, which confirms Russia’s collusion with Turkey, Erdogan said on January 22, 2018, that there is an agreement “between Turkey and Russia regarding the military operation targeting Afrin, and that Ankara will never undo for the process.” He added in a speech in the capital, Ankara, that Turkey will control Afrin as it took control of Jarabulus, Al-Raa’i and Al-Bab in Syria, and the Syrians will be able to return to their homes (according to his claim, as part of his efforts to change the Syrian demographic in a way that is consistent with the visions of Ankara, by displacing the Kurdish indigenous population from Afrin, and resettling others from the Muslim Brotherhood instead of them. ).
