​​​​​​​Head of SFP: National unity is most powerful weapon to liberate occupied lands

 October 9 marks the third anniversary of the Turkish occupation state's attacks on the border region extending from the city of Serêkaniyê to Girê Spî / Tal Abyad and their occupation.

 The Turkish attack came just one day after the withdrawal of US forces from the two regions.

 Turkey occupied these areas within the framework of completing its deals with the Russian side under the umbrella of the "Astana track" and in light of international silence over the crimes committed against the people of the region.

 As in the areas they occupied previously, since their occupation, Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî have witnessed a demographic change and a systematic process of Turkification by imposing the curriculum and the Turkish lira and other measures that threaten the true identity of these two regions.

 criminal operations

 The head of the Syria First Party, Salman Shabib, spoke to our agency about the memory of the attacks, saying: "The Turkish military operation that began in these days of the year 2019, which resulted in the occupation of two important Syrian cities, to which hundreds of villages and population centers belong, and included hundreds of thousands of residents from various components of the Syrian people that was living in safety, harmony and national unity after the liberation of these areas from the control of terrorist groups from ISIS and others, and the Turkish occupation operation of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain came in a related context and within a clear and declared Turkish plan to occupy all border areas as an initial step to achieve its brazen and blatant ambitions in the Syrian land.

He explained, "It is paradoxical that he named his criminal operation, which completely contradicts international laws and relations, with the Spring of Peace, which led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians and their brutal uprooting from their homes and land as a result of a series of war crimes and massacres committed by the Turkish aggression and its mercenaries, which began by bombing civilians, including all kinds of illegal practices and violations against  humanity of killing, rape, kidnapping and theft of livelihood and property, which was filled with reports of international organizations that documented a large number. It is certainly a small part of the war crimes committed by the Turkish occupation in the cities of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain.

 He added, "Unfortunately, this occupation, which took place with the complicity of the international powers in the region, which abandoned their commitments, has also used the tools of a Syrian agent from the armed terrorist organizations who have positioned themselves as mercenaries at the service of Turkey and its ambitions, in complete contradiction with its national identity and the interests of the people and the Syrian homeland."

 There are no limits to Turkish ambitions

 The occupation of Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî was preceded by Turkey’s occupation of many Syrian regions, such as Jarabulus, Al-Bab, Azaz, Afrin and the countryside of Idlib, Aleppo and Hama, and Turkey aspires to occupy many Syrian regions.

On the limits of Turkish ambitions, Shabib said: "The occupation of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain comes within the framework of implementing a declared and clear Turkish plan that seizes any opportunity or regional or international circumstance to advance a step by implementing it, ignoring international law and laws, the sovereignty of states and human rights. We saw several Turkish occupation operations that came  all under a false and scandalous pretext and within a narrative that does not deceive anyone that there is a threat to Turkish national security."

 He added, "The whole world bears witness that there was no threat at any time to the Turkish national security from the Syria except the threat that Turkey contributed to making itself. Turkey is the one who threatens all its neighbors and actually translated this through occupying lands, threats, tension and spreading the atmosphere of war. There is no doubt that  the occupation of Afrin and its region carries more dangerous dimensions because of the humanitarian and national symbolism of this large city, and the horrific violations and atrocities that took place there, because it revealed the dangers that the Turkish project poses to the unity and sovereignty of Syria to the present and future of its people with all its components.

 The Syrian politician stressed that "the borders of Turkish ambitions include all of Syria and extend to the whole region, from Libya to Yemen and the Gulf to Greece, Central Asia and the Caucasus."

 Schemes to revive a dead empire

 Since the Justice and Development Party came to power in Turkey, party officials, led by Erdogan, acknowledged that they aspire to implement the Milli Pact, and spoke proudly of the neo-Ottomanism.

In 2003, after arriving at power, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in a dialogue with a Turkish newspaper. “Suffocating Turkey inside Anatolia is out of the question; Turkey’s full borders are not the official borders, Turkey’s influence and interests go beyond its borders.”

And when Gul was asked: Is this a neo-Ottoman?  He said, "However her class describes it, the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia are areas that concern us closely, and Turkey cannot be locked up in Anatolia."

 In turn, former Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on November 24, 2009: "We have a lasting legacy from the Ottoman era; they say neo-Ottomanism, yes we are neo-Ottomans, we must take care of the countries of our region as well as the countries of North Africa."

 Through these statements, AKP officials were passing historical messages and terminology such as the Milli Pact.

On the issue of granting Turkish citizenship to Syrian refugees, the Turkish Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, said in January 2019 that "they came from the lands of the Melli Pact borders," considering that this is a reason that entitles them to become Turks.

 Turkish state officials did not leave a single opportunity to recall the history of their ancestors in Syria, and on August 8, 2011, Erdogan, who was prime minister, said: “Syria is not an external issue, but rather an internal Turkish affair.”

 On July 15, 2012, Erdogan said: "They ask us about the reasons for our preoccupation with Syria. The answer is very simple, because we are a country that was founded on the rest of the Ottoman Empire. We are the descendants of the Seljuks, we are the descendants of the Ottomans, throughout history the grandchildren of our ancestors who struggled."

 On January 11, 2018, Erdogan said: "Northern Syria was within the limits of the Milli Pact.."

On this, Shabib said: "Turkey does not move except within a scheme revealed by Turkish statements and at all levels to revive the Ottoman Empire. Practices on the ground reflect this despite all the statements that Turkey signed, which includes emphasizing the unity and sovereignty of Syria."

 Shabib warned, "Erdogan's plans to revive a dead empire do not pose dangers to Syria alone. Turkey occupies Iraqi lands and launches operations within its borders continuously, interfering with a number of countries and threatening others. If these colonial plans and dreams are not aborted, they may pose a threat to international peace and security."

 A scenario similar to that of Iskenderun

 The Turkish occupation is working to change the demographics of the occupied Syrian regions through settlement campaigns implemented in these areas, and this threatens to repeat the scenario of Iskenderun, where Turkey worked to remove it from Syrian lands after it organized a formal referendum on its annexation of its lands.

 Shabib said in this context: "When the Turkish occupation of Afrin happened, I was on the Syrian official TV and literally said that we are facing a new issue of Liwa Iskenderun and all that Turkey has done since the occupation of Afrin until today, including criminal practices of displacement of the population, killing, kidnapping, looting, robbery, demographic change and its attempts to change  the identity of this ancient city and the linking of all aspects of economic, service and administrative life in it proves Turkish colonial intentions.

 He explained, "Turkey may find in what happened in Ukraine a precedent that repeats the same scenario, especially as it was a pioneer in adopting such misleading scenarios, as happened in the occupation of the Alexandretta Brigade. Turkey considers Syria its gateway to achieving all its ambitions and the gateway to implementing Erdogan's crazy dream of reviving the Ottoman Empire anew."

National unity is the most powerful weapon

 The Syrian politician sent a message to the residents of the occupied territories, saying: “On this painful occasion that concerns and affects all Syrians and is related to their fate and future, I address the people and residents of these two precious and steadfast cities to continue resisting the occupation and its tools to be certain that the occupation, no matter how long its fate, is its demise and defeat.”  With their steadfastness and adherence to their right and their land, they lay the most important pillars for this, even though it is the task of all Syrians and their national, moral and humanitarian duty. They must rise to the level of challenges and dangers facing them to liberate our land from occupation.

 He continued, "Our strongest weapon is our national unity, and that we always resort to dialogue that stems from comprehensive national accounts, and that we are aware that countries and regional and international powers are not charitable associations and that they work according to their own interests, and that employment and treason are not a point of view and the occupation always deals with clients as cheap tools.  He throws it away when he no longer needs it."

 The Syrian politician, Salman Shabib, concluded his speech by saying: "Our unity is the guarantee to remove all kinds of occupations, the most dangerous of which is the Turkish occupation, because it is a colonial settlement project. We have to confront all dangers and challenges, restore the unity of our land and the sovereignty of our country, and to build our future, we must reformulate our national project based on citizenship, democracy, freedom and justice."

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 ANHA