​​​​​​​Director of KCS: Kurdish resistance to continue with advanced methods

 This March 18th marked the 4th anniversary of the Turkish occupation of the city of Afrin, which is still witnessing the commission of war crimes against its residents, changing its demographics, changing the nature of its historical landmarks and distorting them.

 The city was occupied by the Turkish occupation state after 58 days of resistance by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which began on January 20, 2018, and continued until March 18 of the same year, in the face of the second largest army in NATO which used 72 warplanes at the same time.

 During the four years of its occupation, Afrin witnessed the killing of 686 citizens, and the kidnapping of more than 8,000 others. The fate of half of the kidnapped is still unknown, according to reports by Afrin-based HRW.

 On the future of that occupied region, Nawaf Khalil, told our agency, "The way in which the Turkish occupation occupied the city of Afrin is not strange to Turkey, which has a long history of occupation."

 He added, "When Turkey occupies a city, it first changes the historical features of the region, and the demographics or demographics of the region."

 Khalil indicated that Afrin was targeted by groups that claimed to represent the Syrian revolution, which Turkey supports directly, saying: "The Turkish occupation state targeted Afrin, which was besieged by many groups that claimed to represent the Syrian revolution, although Afrin was  it receives hundreds of thousands of Syrians, including those who have fled and who have not found a place for themselves in the areas controlled by the Syrian government and the so-called Syrian opposition.

 Khalil noted that the occupation of Afrin by the Turkish occupation state came after several years of non-stop threats and after the victories of the People's Protection Units and Women in Kobani against ISIS mercenaries, saying: "Turkey was waiting for the fall of the city of Kobani and opened its borders and airports to deliver thousands of people  ISIS mercenaries to the city of Kobani in Rojava, which was the beginning of the end for the fall of ISIS."

He pointed out that Turkey's hostile policies towards the peoples of the region will mark the beginning of the end of Turkey, saying: "The wrong strategic reading of the Turkish occupation state led it to enter into crises, and what it is now is Erdogan's government and his party, where it used its air and military arsenal and tens of thousands of warplanes.  Terrorist organizations in order to occupy Afrin.

 Turkey's goals in the occupied territories

 Khalil explained Turkey's goal in Rojava, "Turkey's goal is clear in occupying Rojava, and many other Syrian regions to strike the Autonomous Administration's experience, and change the demographic character and historical monuments, as happened in Afrin, in front of human rights organizations and the United Nations."

 Khalil pointed out that since the start of the revolution in Rojava on July 19, 2012, Turkey has begun to be hostile to the region by allowing Jabhat al-Nusra mercenaries to launch an attack on the city of Serêkaniyê in early 2013.

 He pointed out that Turkey's policies are not secret, as it targets the experience of the Kurds, especially after the announcement of the Autonomous Administration in 2014, and then its expansion to include the areas liberated by the Syrian Democratic Forces from ISIS mercenaries, which turned into a strategic goal for Turkey to strike the experience of coexistence between the various components and the Kurds.

 Khalil indicated that the danger of the policy of the Turkish occupation state in Afrin lies in what it is doing by emptying it of its original inhabitants and forcibly displacing them from their homes and land, and the high frequency of restrictions on the remaining residents of Afrin through kidnappings, arrests and killings, and the tribute it imposes on the people.

 According to the issued reports, the percentage of the indigenous population in Afrin, which has a Kurdish majority, after its occupation by the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries, decreased to 20%, after the percentage of Kurds in it before its occupation was 95%.

 Khalil pointed out that the only way to resist the policy of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries in Afrin is to provide and support the Afrin Liberation Forces, which stand in the face of terrorist groups, and through the people's adherence to their land by various means, in addition to intensifying efforts by the Autonomous Administration at the diplomatic and political levels to expose the practices of the occupying state in  Region.

 Nawaf Khalil confirmed that they are working at the Center for Strategic Studies to intensify their efforts to shed light on Turkish violations by communicating with their friends in Europe.

 Nawaf Khalil said, "The Kurdish people and the resistance are inseparable. The Kurds have never stopped fighting the occupiers in various parts of Kurdistan through the uprisings and revolutions in Rojava, Başûr, Rajhalat and Bakur Kurdistan against the tyrannical regimes that usurped Kurdistan, which expresses the nature of the Kurds' attachment to their land and their legitimate rights.  This will continue with advanced methods after the gains made with the rest of the components in north, east and Syria.”

 The Director of the Kurdish Center for Studies in the German city of Bochum, Nawaf Khalil, stressed at the conclusion of his speech that the resistance will continue and it will be able to win more friends by rooting the gains that have been made.

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ANHA