January 23, 2018•Update: January 23, 2018
SANLIURFA, Turkey
The PYD/PKK terror organization must be dealt a crushing blow in Turkey’s current operation in northwestern Syria, for the good of the people, a Syrian Kurdish migrant said on Tuesday.
“The head of the PYD/PKK is in Afrin, its arms are in Ayn-el Arab [Kobani], and its feet in Al-Hasakah. The PYD/PKK’s head must be torn off in Afrin,” Ibrahem Abdullah told Anadolu Agency, citing the names of places in northern Syria, including Afrin, the focus of the current operation.
Abdullah, 67, one of hundreds of thousands of Syrian migrants who left his country, now lives in Turkey’s southeastern Sanliurfa province with his two sons.
Due to the civil war in their country, many Syrian Kurdish families fled to Turkey, fearing returning to their homeland. Nearly 350,000 Kurds from Afrin, Syria left their country, and most of them fled to Turkey after oppression from the terrorist groups the PKK/PYD/YPG and Daesh.
Abdullah, waiting for the pressure, violence and persecution of PYD/PKK terrorists in his country to end, lives with the dream of returning home.
He supports Turkey’s operation in Afrin, called Operation Olive Branch.
“The PYD/PKK is a cancer for Syria, we need to get rid of it. People who live in Afrin face the actual persecution of the PYD/PKK right now,” Abdullah said.
'Olive Branch could rid Syria of terrorism'
Abdullah Nuri, another Syrian Kurdish migrant living in Turkey with his four sons, said that the international community knows the PYD/PKK as a terrorist group.
“I hope that with Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch in Afrin, our country could be restored again, rid of PYD/PKK cruelty soon. Migrants, including myself and my sons, would go back to our homeland. We appreciate Turkey and the Turkish people for helping us,” Nuri said.
“If Turkey wasn’t there, this war would continue for many years. Turkey is trying to end the cruelty,” he added.
Turkey on Saturday launched Operation Olive Branch to remove the PYD/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin.
According to the Turkish General Staff, the operation aims to establish security and stability along Turkey’s borders and the region as well as to protect Syrians from the oppression and cruelty of terrorists.
The operation is being carried out under the framework of Turkey’s rights based on international law, UN Security Council resolutions, its self-defense rights under the UN Charter, and respect for Syria's territorial integrity, it said.
The military also said the "utmost importance" is being put on not harming civilians.
Afrin has been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since July 2012 when the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad left the city to the terror group without putting up a fight.
Reporting by Rauf Maltas:Writing by Seyit Ahmet Aytac
