Northern Syria –North-Press Agency
With the change of the Syrian issue in the field and change in the corridors of international politics and among decision makers, the people of Northern Syria are now looking at Turkey in a different light.
Field activist Abu al-Bara Qasrawi, who lives in Afrin, north of Aleppo, said that “it is obvious that the people have started to lose trust in the Turkish guarantor, as until now, it implements international agreements that only guarantee its own interests rather than that of the population.”
Astana borders
Qasrawi attributed the reason for his words to the fact that initially, Turkey claimed that it would return to the Astana agreement borders and withdraw from the areas they had invaded, but so far nothing has happened. It has also not moved the Turkish-backed armed groups in northern Aleppo to defend Idlib and the areas controlled by the regime. Furthermore, it closes border crossings in the face of humanitarian crises, and prevents the entry of sufficient humanitarian aid.
Despite all the threats that Erdogan makes in his speeches to the Syrian government and its supporters of unspoken consequences for violating the ceasefire in Idlib, the people of northern Syria are not commenting much on these statements, which they see as merely media statements and nothing more.
The lack of Turkish guarantors stage
Media activist Ahmed al-Hamwi, who lives in one of the rural towns in Idlib’s countryside, said, "There is a lack of trust in the Turkish guarantor among a large number of people. But despite the loss of trust in the implementation of the Turkish guarantor with all of its pledges and words, they still have hope that something will be implemented, so we see that people live in a state of contradiction between lack of trust in Turkey’s promises and those who hope that they will fulfill those promises.”
Al-Hamwi added that "the Turkish guarantor, from the beginning [of the revolution] until today, has not declared any statement and to stand with it. From the start, it said ‘Hama is a red line, Aleppo is a red line, Idlib is a red line.’ It drew many red lines, but it did not stand behind them or any of its promises.”
Only defeats
Al-Hamwi continued, “what we received from the Turkish guarantor, from the beginning of entering into agreements with Russia and Iran in Astana, Sochi, and others, are only defeats. After the Turkish intervention, we did not receive anything other than the loss of our land and the surrender of our regions one by one, under the pretext of the four regions’ agreements and de-escalation.”
Al-Hamwi stressed that the Turkish guarantor only provided them with a border strip to set up the camps that lacked the most basic elements of human life, so people would sit in tents on top of each other.
On March 5th, the Turkey and Russia signed an agreement in Sochi stipulating a permanent cease-fire in Idlib, and the conduct of joint patrols on the M4 highway. However, there is a state of suspicion and discomfort among the people regarding what happened behind the scenes of this agreement, according to several local sources.
Impose control
Abu Abdo Zakour, displaced from the Hama countryside to the northern countryside of Aleppo, said with regard to the Turkish guarantor and northern Syria that “we realized that Turkey did not come to fight the Syrian regime, not even to restore the territories, but came to impose their control on the region only. Unfortunately, what was handed over was at the hands of Turkey, and we no longer have any confidence in Turkey or even some of their groups.”
Zakour added that "Turkey came with a process that we can call an occupation, and they never thought that they would benefit [the Syrian revolution], only Turkish interests. At one point, Turkey extended its right hand to us, but in return they turned their left hand over and presented Russia with all its demands on a golden platter.”
Zakour pointed out that "the Syrian regime and Russia have not yet given Turkey anything from the demands that they have spoken about, and lied to us in them. Since the beginning of the events in the Syrian north until today, Turkey has not taken any of the locations that it has spoken about, and has not provided victories to the Syrian people in their revolution, but in fact has helped to destroy it."
After Turkey realized that its popularity had begun to fade with the populace in Idlib and northern Syria, a few days ago, its warplanes delivered leaflets in which it called on the people to cooperate with the Turkish army on the pretext that they came to restore security and safety in the region, and that they were seeking to secure the return of Syrians to the areas from which they fled. However, these calls did not register with the people, according to local sources.