Rizk: Erdogan wants to create a zone free of Kurds, Arab League is not interested in move

 The Turkish occupation state opened its borders wide to Syrian refugees after the Syrian crisis that erupted in 2011, and established several relief organizations under the pretext of helping Syrian refugees to its lands, most notably the AFAD organization headed by Fouad Aktay, the IHH organization directly affiliated with the Turkish intelligence and the TIKA organization directly affiliated to the Presidency of the Republic  .

 The Syrian refugees in Turkey are distributed in 13 camps, which are: Urfa, Kilis, Gaziantep, Kahramanmaraş, the reformatory, Bakhsin 1, Bakhsin 2, Yilladaghi 1, Yiladaghi 2, Altutuz, Osmaniye, Kovci and Adi Yaman.

 Following the Turkish military intervention in Syria and its occupation of several Syrian regions, Turkey established several camps, including: Atma camp, Qah camp, Bab al-Hawa camp and other camps in Azaz scattered along the border strip;  As for the number of Syrian refugees within the Turkish territory, there is no specific statistics. Turkey claimed, in 2016, that the number of Syrian refugees within its territory reached about 3.6 million, but the competent authorities doubt this number, especially because there are no official statistics from neutral bodies such as the United Nations, for example.

 Turkey used the Syrian refugee crisis as a blackmail card against European countries, as it opened its borders, in 2015, which led to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of them to the European Union countries, where nearly one million refugees arrived at Germany and its borders. Therefore, Germany and the European Union countries acquiesced to Turkey and paid about  3 billion dollars to Turkey, in exchange for closing its borders to the influx of refugees to Europe.

 Turkey has also recruited hundreds of Syrian refugees within the Turkish camps, and plunged them into the wars in the region in implementation of its occupation policies, whether in Syria or in neighboring countries and other countries.

 The most prominent Syrian asylum countries:

 1- Greece: It is one of the main strongholds of refugees. In August 2015, Greece received nearly 200,000 migrants, most of them Syrians, but soon it decreased by 40% in 2021, according to data from the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum.

 2 Arab countries: There are many Arab countries that receive Syrian refugees, but of course the number of Syrians in neighboring countries is increasing geographically, with the exception of Iraq, which is also suffering from multiple crises.  Pressure is increasing from the Syrian refugees on Lebanon and Jordan, which are characterized by weak resources, and the study draws attention to the inhumane conditions of the Syrians in the camps of these countries.

 3- Turkey: The proportion of Syrian refugees who have been officially registered with the Turkish state is estimated at 3.7 million Syrians, living in Turkey, and the continued influx of Syrian refugees is causing tremendous pressure on Turkish resources.

 The facilities provided by Turkey to the refugees and the policy that was practiced on their right to reach Europe, made them not think about returning to their homeland, Syria, later.  This threatens a massive human hemorrhage, no less dangerous than the number of people killed in the conflict.  Especially if we realize that the majority of the refugees are academics and experienced, just as Turkey has granted citizenship to a number of Syrian refugees on its soil;  On January 19, 2019, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu announced in a statement to Anadolu Agency during a meeting on the security of local elections that only Syrians who obtained citizenship can vote in the local elections that were held in March, at which time the number of Syrians who obtained citizenship reached 79,820  Syrian.

 Erdogan wants a Kurdish-free zone

 Researcher in political sociology and in Turkish and Kurdish affairs D.  Hoda Rizk said: "It is clear that when Recep Tayyip Erdogan was blackmailing the West with the transfer card, he wanted them to take a position on the percentage of the buffer zone he wanted. He wants a large area, and is now seeking to establish schools, universities, mosques and hospitals in Azaz, Afrin and Jarabulus, the project  It is clear and explicit that he wants this area to be free of Kurds.

 Who are these refugees?

 Recently, Erdogan said that his country is preparing to settle one million "Syrian refugees" and there are several questions about Turkey's insistence on returning the refugees to their lands. Are these refugees the original inhabitants of Syria? Or people loyal to Turkey?, says Dr. Huda  Rizk: "Today there are more than 500,000 who have returned to the areas of Jarablus and Al-Bab, most of them are Syrians loyal to the Justice and Development Party."

She indicated that Erdogan pledged to the Gulf states, upon his visit, to rebuild entire villages in the areas he occupied.  She pointed out: "In these villages, too, the Kurdish component will be removed from them and they will be a haven for refugees, not all the refugees who went to Turkey, but those who belong to the Free Army, the Free Army and the women of the Free Army, as well as the Islamic movements that are still operating under the banner of Turkey.  Who will reside in these areas?

 She added: "Erdogan claims that this land remains belonging to Syria, but actually the inhabitants of this land will stand as a security barrier for Turkey, and serve as a buffer barrier between him and the Kurdish areas. He wants to take this buffer zone under his pretext that he is fighting the PKK.

 Syria should demand that Turkey leave its land

 She asserts that: "The Syrian state must demand the exit of Turkey from its lands, and consider the Turkish presence an occupation."  She touched on the Gulf role in supporting the Turkish occupation, and indicated that the Gulf countries began to finance this project because Erdogan claims that it is the Sunnis who migrated to Turkey to protect them from the oppression of President al-Assad and other sects, claiming that he is defending the Sunnis without actually mentioning that he is doing  this work is done in order to keep the Kurds away from the borders, and secondly to be an impenetrable dam between it and the Kurds.

 Huda Rizk stressed that the policy pursued by the Turkish occupation state is dangerous, especially as it affects the security of Syria, and not only its territorial integrity, and even if this region remains Syria, but it actually affects the security of the Syrian state and the demographic change. There are those who are trying to play with Syrian demography, and she said  : "If this matter is up to the Syrian state, does it really want to recover these areas and the population, or does it leave the reins to Erdogan?"

 The Arab League does not attach importance to this issue

 Hoda Rizk indicated that the Arab League does not attach importance to the Turkish settlement project due to its preoccupation with the Yemeni war and its internal preoccupations, and said: "Therefore I think today that Erdogan is continuing his project,  trying to kill two birds with one stone, to calm the interior, On the other hand, he seeks to satisfy the opposition, while at the same time taking a buffer zone.

She touched on Erdogan’s policies towards Arab countries and said: “Erdogan today restored the relationship with the Arab countries, the Emirates and Algeria and restored the relationship with Saudi Arabia. Today he aspires to restore the relationship with Egypt, that had conditions, the most important of which was the expulsion of the Muslim Brotherhood from Turkey. There are also other conditions related to Libya, if these conditions are met, there will be a return to Turkish-Egyptian relations. We do not forget that the Arab countries continued to import commercially from Turkey, but on the political level they were different with them, except that Saudi Arabia also eased import commercially.

 Huda Rizk noted: "In light of these relations. Of course, we saw how the last time he restored good relations with Algeria, and it seems that Arab-Turkish relations are returning to a time of zero problems. Erdogan is now promoting that the Kurds pose a threat to the unity of Arab countries and Turkey’s, so I don’t think that the Arab countries are the source of objection from this side and from the other side, Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that he does not want to cut the land, but actually is establishing this demographic change.”

 The real European position

 Rizk drew attention to the real European position on this project: "Today, European countries are in a battle with Russia. There are differences between Europe and Turkey, at the same time it gives importance to Turkey's strategic position and its interest.  It is true that Recep Tayyip Erdogan tried to be moderate and he supplies weapons to Ukraine and gives the Russians sweetness from the tip of his tongue.  Because he considers that it protects Kurdish leaders from the PKK, so he turns all his case with European countries into his standing against the PKK and the European countries' support for the PKK, trying to take political gains from the Europeans who need Turkey's position  strategic."

 Rizk noted that Europe needs Turkey and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and does not think that they will move against Erdogan, especially since the Brussels Conference and the donor countries did not move a finger on the Syrian refugee plan, and said: "I think Europe supports the return of some of them, and I think the partnership is very deep  Between the Europeans and Erdogan, especially today in light of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the European need for Turkey’s position, specifically for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who seeks to be in a region of compromise, and this middle tends to the Europeans, and we do not forget that he is part of NATO.

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 ANHA