Syria’s Aleppo countryside residents call on international community to stop Turkish threats
ALEPPO NORTHERN COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (North Press) – On Tuesday, tribal notables in the northern countryside of Aleppo and Afrin, northern Syria, called on the international community to take its moral and legal responsibility to put an end to the Turkish threats on the Syrian people.
This came after reading a statement issued by tribal notables and sheikhs about the new Turkish threats to invade areas in Syria.
“In 2013, we were attacked by 12 Turkish-backed armed factions in the northern countryside of Aleppo, which led to the displacement of the residents of the area and the killing of innocent people,” Ali Mahmoud, Sheikh of Didan tribe in the northern countryside of Aleppo, said.
“The area has been attacked several times by the armed opposition factions and al-Nusra Front and ISIS. They all killed, destroyed and robbed the area,” he added.
Mahmoud pointed out that “the areas controlled by Turkey and its affiliated factions lack security and stability, contrary to what the Turkish state claims” adding that” If Turkey attacks Tel Rifaat, which is considered the first line of defense for Aleppo, the Syrian government must confront it.”
Tribal sheikhs and notables called on everyone to stand united in defending the Syrian territory and not allowing Turkey to occupy more areas.
“Turkey has previously attacked us in our city of Afrin, committed massacres, and forcibly displaced us until we went to the northern countryside of Aleppo. If it attacks again, we will face massacres, and a lot of innocent people will be killed,” Khalil Rasho, a notable from the city of Afrin, told North Press.
“Russia had previously promised us to protect us in Afrin, but it let us down and withdrew and gave the green light to Turkey to attack us. Tel Rifaat is now under its control, so we do not trust the Russian presence in the region and its claims that it protects us. We hope Russia will not let us down again,” he added.
In their statement, the notables confirmed “their solidarity in the confrontation and insistence on liberating all the Syrian areas occupied by the Turkish state; Idlib, Afrin, Azaz, Jarablus, al-Bab, Ras al-Ain and Tel Abyad.”
The town of Tel Rifaat has had hundreds of IDP families from Afrin region since the Turkish forces and the affiliated armed factions controlled the city in 2018.
The region is continually bombed by the Turkish forces and the armed factions stationed in the vicinity of the region in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
In 2019, the Turkish forces and the affiliated armed factions bombed the town of Tel Rifaat with missiles, which led to the killing of ten people, including eight children and the injury of some others.