Ibrahim Muslim: Turkey’s control of Afrin came with Russian complicity.. And the beneficiary of its attacks on Syria is ISIS

What happened in Afrin is a bartering process

On the fourth anniversary of the occupation of the Afrin region, the Syrians from the region still hold Russia responsible for this occupation, and assert that the reason for the Turkish attack was “Moscow opened the air and withdrew from the region in exchange for handing over the Ghouta region to the Syrian government.”

Those circles saw that this scenario was repeated again in 2019, when the American forces withdrew from their centers of concentration in the cities of Ras al-Ain (Sere-Kaniye) and Tal Abyad (Girê Spi), and opened the way for the Turkish forces to “invade” and control these areas, after An agreement between former US President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and perhaps this, according to their view, was the price of the Syrian government forces’ control of Saraqib and Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib countryside.

The occupation of Afrin came with Russian complicity with Turkey

Syrian researcher and academic Dr. Ibrahim Muslim, in an interview with the “Ugarit Post” network, said he agreed with the opinion that Russia colluded with Turkey in the latter’s attack on Afrin in 2018, and said: “I agree with that. The operation to occupy Afrin was a barter deal with Russia.

Regarding the position of the international coalition on the Turkish operation, which was said to have “affected the fight against ISIS in Syria,” Muslim said that “even the international coalition did not interfere under the pretext that it is responsible for the areas east of the Euphrates. Russia wanted to pressure the Autonomous Administration in order to obey the regime, but the Autonomous Administration She did not accept that.”

Muslim considered that the operation of the Turkish attack on Afrin and its control came in a “receipt and handover” deal, and said that “the opposition-controlled areas in Damascus countryside (Ghouta) were handed over to the Syrian government, in exchange for Turkish forces and opposition factions controlling Afrin.”

Muslim added in his speech that “the battles lasted for more than a month and a half, and the Syrian Democratic Forces and the People’s Protection Units showed resistance, and many martyrs fell, and Turkey committed many massacres and violations against our people in Afrin.”

Who benefits from the Turkish attacks on northern Syria?

The Syrian researcher described the Turkish presence in the northern countryside of Aleppo, in the cities of Azaz, Jarabulus, and others as “an occupation,” and stressed that the latest Turkish attack in 2019 on Tal Abyad (Girê Spî) and Ras al-Ain (Serê Kaniyê) “serves the terrorist organization.”

Muslim linked the Turkish attacks on the north to what happened in the city of al-Hasakah from an attack by ISIS cells on the industrial prison in Ghweran.

“What happened (Thursday) in al-Hasakah in terms of an ISIS attack on Ghweran prison is the biggest example of ISIS benefiting from the Turkish attacks on the Syrian regions,” he said.

“Demographic change, violations and settlement construction”

Turkey is often accused of implementing a “demographic change” in Afrin, with the continued violations by the armed factions that control Afrin, and about that, Syrian researcher and academic Dr. Ibrahim Muslim said, “Afrin has witnessed a demographic change…the people of Afrin are more aware of its tragedies than others, Whoever returns to Afrin now, he will not know his city.”

He also referred to the construction of many “settlements” in Afrin with the support of Turkey and organizations operating under the command of the Muslim Brotherhood, and said, “Yes, there are many changes that have taken place in terms of building new settlements in the region, and many organizations, especially those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, have established cities, regions and neighborhoods. in order to enhance the demographic change that has occurred in the region.”