AANES warns residents of Aleppo and its countryside of Syrian government’s settlements
ALEPPO NORTHREN COUNTRYSIDE, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, a local council affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) warned the residents of Aleppo and its countryside against being drawn behind slogans calling for a settlement in the areas held by the Syrian government, through a statement.
On April 18, Syrian government forces completed the settlement process in two centers in Maskanah and Deir Hafer areas in Aleppo countryside, the government security committee announced that status of over 9,000 people, military or civilians, were settled.
For about 4 years, the Syrian government, under Russian auspice, launched a “settlement process” in its held areas, starting from Daraa in southern Syria, pretending to impose security and stability in its areas. However, despite these settlements, the government-held areas witness security chaos and instability on a daily basis, claiming the lives of civilians, government and opposition members.
The settlement should pave the way to intra-Syrian dialogue with the political forces and representatives of the people in northeastern Syria, the Shahba District Council read in a statement in Fafin district in the northern countryside of Aleppo.
Shahba area, lies in the northern countryside of Aleppo, includes about 20 deserted villages and 5 IDP camps where the Kurds of Afrin region who fled the Turkish invasion in 2018 are taking shelter.
Shahba Council is a local council that manages the affairs of the indigenous people and the displaced people of Afrin in the areas of the northern countryside of Aleppo.
“The settlement process was comprehensive with no deadline and additional centers would be opened in the countryside,” a source within the committee of the settlement process told North Press.
Only young men wanted for the compulsory military service and the reserve military service reviewed the settlement centers amidst low turnout, according to residents.
“With the Russian and Turkish intervention in the Syrian crisis, the government regained most of the lands it had lost, through swaps with Turkey on al-Bab, Azaz, Jarablus, Afrin, Ras al-Ain, and Tel Abyad regions,” the council stated.
“The government forces’ settlement is just a propaganda aims to show the government being serious in embracing all of its citizens,” Rajab Abdurrahman, a pseudonym for a lawyer from the eastern countryside of Aleppo, told North Press.
“The majority of the people who submitted for the settlement process have never carried arms against the government process, they were either people who evaded the military reserve, civilians whom malicious reports were filled against them or state employees who were fired for different reasons,” the lawyer said.
Currently, there are two settlement centers in Aleppo and its countryside, which are in the towns of Tel Aran in the eastern countryside and Hayyan in the northern countryside of Aleppo.