Thirty-six Kurdish organizations have condemned Turkish authorities’ arrest, through its allied factions, of pro-Ankara Kurdish National Council members in the Afrin area, and called for violations to stop and for them to be immediately released.
The statement accused factions of the Syrian Coalition close to Turkey of carrying out humanitarian violations through “kidnapping, armed robbery, seizing property, and forcibly expelling residents.”
The statement blamed Turkish forces for the arrest of Mohamed Ali Rida, who is 80 years-old and a member of the Kurdish National Council, and the arrest of Hussein Eybish, a member of the central committee of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria, and is also head of the Kurdish National Council in Afrin. They called for them to be released along with all other prisoners, who number 2,000.
Recently armed factions affiliated with the coalition and loyal to and overseen by the Turkish government have stepped up the pace of violations to expel remaining residents clinging to their land.
The statement said: “We in the aforementioned civil society organizations condemn these crimes and the arbitrary arrest of Kurdish citizens in the Afrin area, in particular, prominent national figures in the Kurdish political field. We hold the Turkish government responsible for their arrest and we call for their release and the release of all prisoners held under false pretexts by armed elements. We also call on the international community and international humanitarian organizations to intervene to stop these practices and inhumane violations and to open safe passages for the return of those who were forcibly displaced and to secure international protections for Kurdish areas in Syria in general.”
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
