Ilham Ahmed: Afrin is a Syrian issue in the first place

Ilham Ahmed stressed that Afrin is primarily a Syrian issue, and criticized the duplication of international standards regarding it, and said: "International laws are invested in the interest of states, not peoples."

10 May, 2022 08:59

AL-SHAHBA

During her participation via the Zoom application, the Head of the Executive Body of the Syrian Democratic Council, Ilham Ahmed, called on the people of Afrin to adhere to and struggle to liberate their occupied district.

Ilham Ahmed's intervention came in response to the first session of the International Dialogue Forum, which was called "Afrin Geographically and Historically", in which she began her speech by emphasizing that Afrin is primarily a Syrian issue.

She said: "The issue of Afrin is a Syrian issue that concerns all Syrian components, especially the Kurdish people. Afrin has a Kurdish identity, and therefore the targeting of this region by Turkey is a political issue. The Turkish state, through the occupation of Afrin, sought to expand its Ottoman project and focused on this geography in particular. Based on the Kurdish cultural depth that exists in the region, it targets the cultures, history, geographic, political and social composition of the region.

Ilham denounced the international silence during the Turkish occupation of Afrin, and said: "The Turkish invasion of this region took place before the eyes of the whole world. Afrin was under the tutelage of Russia, or in other words, the Russians were the ones who took responsibility for closing the airspace in that geography, but they allowed Turkey to start its attacks. air and land.

Pointing out in her intervention to the double international standards regarding the occupation attacks of the Turkish occupation army on the occupied canton of Afrin, she stated: "When it comes to the issue of Afrin and the violations that occur in it, the occupation process carried out by Turkey, and the crimes that occurred in it during the Turkish invasion and the crimes that occurred to the residents of the region, it happened before the eyes of the world, but everyone remained silent about these crimes that were and are still being committed against the residents of the region. The international community can talk about Assad’s crimes, but it does not talk about the crimes of the Turkish occupation.

She added: "The whole world supports Ukraine, but in Syria, that is, areas that are subjected to various types of demographic change, killing, torture, rape of women, and other crimes committed against humanity, there is still silence, and the position that expresses concern about what is happening in Syria, meaning the situation did not go beyond the level of concern."

She added, "Today, Erdogan is preparing to settle a large percentage of Syrians, with nearly one million Syrians in the northern Syrian regions. The Arab League is concerned about the settlements that Israel is doing, but it is not talking about the settlements that are being built in Afrin, with the support of countries in the Arab League." Double standards is an intentional political factor emanating from countries looking for their interests, meaning that these positions come to exploit international laws for the benefit of states and not for the benefit of peoples.

Ilham called on the people of Afrin to resist against the occupiers, and said: "Here I say it is necessary to reconsider these policies, especially since the people of Afrin were the ones who fought ISIS, and they were present in every area where there were ISIS mercenaries and they fought them, and a strong alliance occurred between the coalition countries and these units, but These same units that fought ISIS are considered terrorists in Afrin. This is the double standards. These standards have become exposed. This predicament that has become a burden on humanity must be completely eliminated, and the third world war we are currently experiencing is the result of double standards, and therefore I say to all the people of Afrin: Hold on to the land It is our main goal and insistence on returning and removing all strangers from that geography who were forcibly brought from their areas and resettled in Afrin, and we call on them to raise their voice to demand the return to their lands.”

T/S

ANHA