Civil, tribal and political figures in Syria’s Raqqa reject Turkish threats
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Civil, tribal and political figures Syrian held a meeting in the city of Raqqa, north Syria, rejecting the Turkish threats to launch a new military operation against northeast Syria.
The meeting was held in the building of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) in the city of Raqqa. It was attended by tribal sheikhs, civil figures, and politicians from Raqqa, Tabqa, Hama, Homs, Idlib and Aleppo.
Ahmed Shawa, a relations official in the Green Idlib Council
(an administrative entity for the displaced from the Idlib region), said that the purpose of the meeting was to clarify a unified attitude towards the Turkish threats to launch a new military operation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on May 23 that Turkey would launch a new military operation across its southern borders with Syria to create a safe zone.
Syrian tribes, civil society, and political forces “are all uniting in rejecting the Turkish threats and the resettlement project announced by Ankara,” Shawa added.
On Thursday, Turkey’s Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu revealed his country’s intention to build about 250,000 homes in northern Syria, as part of a plan to return Syrian refugees.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Tuesday as saying, “we are preparing a new project for the voluntary return of one million Syrian bro brothers who are in our country as guests.”
“The Syrian people are seeking the implementation of democracy and political solutions. They do not want to return to settlements built to achieve political goals,” he told North Press.
Mustafa al-Abdi, sheikh of al-Ghanim al-Thahir tribe, said that “the Syrian tribes reject the Turkish threats. These threats do not target a specific community, a political party, or even a military one.”
“Turkey does not have the right to military intervention and the demographic change that it is practicing on Syrian territory. However, what is it doing is practices of the occupying state,” al-Abdi told North Press.