MESOPOTAMIA NEWS SYRIA/KURDISTAN : SDF / PYD / PKK STATEMENT
Çia Furat: Our forces thwarted Turkey’s targets on Ain Issa, we would never hand it over to Damascus government- Updated 10 Jan 2021
The member of the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Çia Furat, confirmed that the goal of Turkey and its mercenaries was to besiege the villages around Ain Issa, but they have failed to achieve it so far, and that “all the news stated that we have handed over the town to the Damascus government is unfounded, as our forces are able to protect it.”
10 Jan 2021, Sun – 07:51 2021-01-10T07:51:00 NEWS DESK ANASAFYA
The member of the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Çia Furat, came in a special dialogue with our agency, in which he revealed all the developments that have occurred and are still continuing in Ain Issa region.
The text of the dialogue included:
For more than two months, Ain Issa has been being subjected to widespread attacks, what is the goal of them, how do you evaluate SDF’s confrontation to it, and how much have Turkey and its mercenaries lost?
At the beginning, we commemorate with the personality of the martyr Xebat Dêrik all the martyrs of the People Protection Units (YPG), Women Protection Units (YPJ) and the Syrian Democratic Forces, and we salute all our forces stationed on the fronts.
Everyone knows that we share with the media all the details of the attacks launched by Turkey on Ain Issa and its villages, and we do not hide anything. Since more than two months, the attacks have been being continued in various ways, and the reason is that the current political conditions do not help Turkey to launch a large attack on Ain Issa and occupy it, so It is following a policy of intermittent attacks in attempts to gradually annex lands and villages, and besiege Ain Issa,. Its attempts are still continuing, using advanced weapons, such as drones, Grad missiles, Katyusha and other weapons<span “=””>.
There were strong attacks and violent shelling on the villages of Ain Issa, such as Al-Malikiyah, Ain Issa camp and others, with the aim of occupying the villages, one after the other, concentrating in them and then besieging Ain Issa, but the Syrian Democratic Forces were vigilant of this, managed to thwart all of them, and inflicted heavy losses to the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries, as during the first widespread attacks on the villages of Ain Issa, 18 occupation soldiers and mercenaries were killed, and the bodies remained on the ground, it was a painful blow<span “=””>.
The clashes continued between us and them for more than two days, after which Turkey requested the mediation of Russia to intervene and allow it to remove the bodies and withdraw. Indeed, Russia intervened and held meetings with the Relationship Committees in the Syrian Democratic Forces, and we allowed them to withdraw their bodies under Russian supervision<span “=””>.
But what we noticed at the time was that the Turkish forces took the bodies of their soldiers, and kept the bodies of the mercenaries, and there are still a number of them in the areas of clashes that currently separate our zones from those of the mercenaries<span “=””>.
In all the attacks during the past two months, about 65 of the occupation soldiers and mercenaries were killed, and a number of others were injured in their ranks, while 7 of our fighters were martyred, and 9 were injured<span “=””>.
In addition, the indiscriminate shelling of villages and on the outskirts of Ain Issa led to the death of 5 civilians, and the injuring of 3 members of the Syrian government forces, which did not respond to the sources of the attacks, and had no role in repelling them<span “=””>.
It is worth mentioning that according to the agreement held between our forces and the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries mediated by the international powers, the villages of al-Mushairfeh and Jahbel were within the “forbidden” zones, meaning that no one may enter them, but the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries did not abide by the agreement, tried to advance and occupy these villages as well, so our forces repelled them<span “=””>.
It can be said that the violent shelling and attacks are still ongoing since two months until now, yet the attackers have not achieved any goal, and all that Turkey and its mercenaries claim through the media that they have entered some villages, we confirm that they are unfounded, as they have not been able to enter any village until now<span “=””>.
In addition to the attacks on Ain Issa, there are constant threats by Turkey to attack Kobane and Manbij as well, what is the truth of this matter and what are your preparations for it<span “=””>?
Yes, we received a lot of information about Turkey’s intention to expand its attacks, and we received information that Turkey brought many mercenaries that it had sent to Libya, brought some from Idlib, and gathered them in Jarablus, on the lines of contact with Manbij, on the Ain Issa line and in Girê Spî, and on the fronts’ lines in the countryside of Serêkaniyê, meaning that there are preparations by Turkey and its mercenaries to launch attacks if the opportunity arises<span “=””>.
We, in the Syrian Democratic Forces, also have our preparations to confront any attack, and we will not stand idly by. We have benefited greatly from our previous experiences, according to which, we have taken the necessary measures, for example it will not be easy for them to launch any attack on any area this time, and the response will be much stronger than before. We will protect all of our regions<span “=””>.
Our forces have gained great experiences during their battles with ISIS, mercenary groups and against the Turkish occupation, and we assure that we will be able to protect our areas against any attack<span “=””>.
After Turkey and its mercenaries launched the attacks on Ain Issa, many media outlets circulated news that you are considering handing over Ain Issa to the Syrian government forces. How reliable is this news<span “=””>?
Everyone used to say that SDF cannot protect Ain Issa, so they will hand it over to the Syrian government forces, but in fact there is no such thing. Our forces are able to protect, the town will not be handed over to anyone, and it will remain managed by the Autonomous Administration. Everyone knows that the government forces are present in Ain Issa and its outskirts according to previous agreements, but this does not mean that we handed over the town to the Syrian government, as all these rumors are false<span “=””>.
At a time when the attacks on Ain Issa are increasing, what is the position and response of the Russian forces and the Damascus government to these attacks<span “=””>?
There is an agreement between us and the Damascus government, which was concluded last year, according to which, the forces of the Damascus government are stationed in the region, and there are Russian forces in the region, but they have no response or position on the attacks which have so far injured a number of its members. The Damascus government is responsible about protecting the Syrian lands, but it is not carrying out its responsibilities, and we can say that it did not fire a single bullet<span “=””>.
We do not know the terms and the level of the agreements concluded between Russia and Turkey, but we know that there are meetings and discussions between them, and although the attacks occur in front of the Russian forces, they remain silent and without a position<span “=””>.
America and Russia are the two powers that can stop the war in all of the Syrian lands, and there are agreements between you, Russia and America on the ground, but to what extent these two powers carry out their responsibilities towards stopping the war and the attacks taking place in the region<span “=””>?
Russia and America are two basic powers, but above all, our goal is to protect our land through our forces, and this is the basic premise for us. After the attacks on Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî, agreements were concluded between us and these powers to stop the war, but despite that, the Turkish state and its mercenaries are still continuing their attacks, and we hope that these forces will fulfill their duties and responsibilities, as they are the ones that concluded these agreements, but their violation is carried out by the Turkish state, and once again, I confirm that the main force in the Syrian Democratic Forces is our core forces<span “=””>.
Today, what is the level of struggle against ISIS mercenaries<span “=””>?
ISIS has been a large force in the region for a long time, it controlled many cities and towns in the region, and in coordination with the International Coalition, we launched campaigns against it. The public opinion was informed of these campaigns and their results, and strong battles broke out against ISIS, during which more than 11 of our fighters were martyred, and in the end, it was defeated in al-Baghouz<span “=””>.
We cannot say that ISIS has been completely eliminated because there are still cells affiliated with it in the region, and when opportunity raises, they launch attacks, and that is why our campaigns are still continuing against them in coordination with the international coalition. We have launched joint campaigns in the recent period<span “=””>.
ISIS still has power, and takes opportunities to organize itself, especially in the areas inhabited by the Arab component. I say again that a big number of ISIS mercenaries fought us, and they are now fighting us within the Turkish occupation army’s mercenaries and launching attacks on our areas
What is your message to people?
We say to our Kurdish and Arab people and all the components of the region that we in the Syrian Democratic Forces stand beside our people, we will defend them, and we will defend our cities and towns. Our people must stand by the Syrian Democratic Forces and defend their land, and our call to all of our people is not to leave their land, as our basic duty is to protect people, defend the region, and confront any possible attack by the mercenaries, and we will resist, with our people, we will be able to defend ourselves, and it is not permissible to leave the land and the homeland<span “=””>.
This is our hope from our people, and we must prepare accordingly. If people join forces with the Syrian Democratic Forces, then we are confident that we will prevail<span “=””>.
D.H