Speaking to Hawar News, Luqman Ahme, spokesperson for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said that settling a million refugees by Turkey in parts of Syria that are occupied by the Turkish state and Turkey backed factions, the indigenous people of which have largely been displaced, would be a war crime.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had announced that they were ‘making preparations for one million Syrians to return’ speaking on the occasion of the opening ceremony for ‘briquette houses’ built in Idlib with the coordination of the Disaster and Emergency Management Administration (AFAD) of Turkey on 3 May.
Erdoğan had emphasised in his speech he made at the ceremony in Idlib through a video conference, that 500 thousand Syrians returned from Turkey to ‘safe regions established in Syria’ since 2016.
Luqman Ahme of AANES stressed that Afrin, Sere Kaniye and Gire Spi in North Syria was occupied by Turkey and said that “new settlements were being built to house families of mercenaries and other people from other areas after indigenous people are forcibly displaced.”
He added that already settlements were built by Turkey in those areas under occupation and financed by Qatari and Kuwaiti funds and foundations under various charities.
According to Ahme, this would amount to a war crime against the people of the region. Ahme said ”everyone that supports this project whether politically or financially is responsible for the crimes committed by the Turkish regime. They would be held accountable in front of international courts and they will be indicted.”
Ahme said that there are 600 thousand people living in areas controlled by AANES after being forcibly displaced from areas under Turkish occupation or displaced forcibly by mercenary groups. ”They come from Afrin, Sere Kaniye and Gire Spi” Ahme said.