Turkish-Syrian rapprochement buries Syrians’ demands –Raqqa’s activists
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Political activists in Raqqa, a city north Syria, said on Wednesday any rapprochement between the Syrian government and Turkey would “abolish” demands set by the Syrian people for change and reform.
Muhammad al-Aboud, a political activist from Raqqa, said Turkey’s intention to come close to the Syrian government and to reconcile the Syrian opposition with the government restricts the Syrian people more.
Al-Aboud added the Turkish-Syrian rapprochement shares a common goal which is to end the Syrian revolution and put the government’s demand into effect “to get Syria back to the pre-2011 era.”
Al-Aboud went further saying that most Syrians refuse the return to the centralized government, rather they want to build a democratic and pluralistic country where all sects and ethnicities are equal.
He pointed out the common factors between the two parties are to allow the government to regain control over the whole Syrian geography, revive the centralization, and hit the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
Recently, regional and global media outlets have circulated remarks released by Turkish officials, who did not rule out any rapprochement with Syria. The most notable was the one made by Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlut Cavusoglu on August 11 over reconciliations between the opposition and the government.
Cavusoglu’s statement waged widespread protests in north Syria, condemning the Turkish statements and calling for ending the Turkish intervention in Syria.
Esmat Mustafa, another political activist from Raqqa, said ongoing Turkish escalation in northeast Syria is an aggression that active powers in Syria ignore for political ends.
Esmat told North Press any government or security rapprochement would hit Syrians’ will in building a new democratic state.
He added the return of coordination and rapprochement between Syria and Turkey and targeting areas in northeast Syria would lead to a humanitarian disaster of unknown catastrophic proportions.
He elaborated saying that the region faces an unknown fate based on interests of countries destabilizing Syria without paying any attention to the those of the Syrian people and the Syrian territorial integrity.