Dozens of Afrin Region Autonomous Administration members, tribe leaders and representatives of political parties came together in the square in the Berxwedan Camp in Fafîn district of Shehba canton and made a press statement.

The people, carrying the photographs of those fallen as martyrs as a result of the massacres carried out by the Turkish state, unfurled a banner saying ‘demographic change, colonial houses and the return of refugees are crimes against the people and history of the region’.

The statement made in Kurdish and Arabic was read by the Afrin region Education Committee co-chairs Bêrîvan Xelîl and Subhî Ehmed.

The statement said: "They want to silence the voice of the Turkish people because they are in a political and economic deadlock, and want to commit crimes against the peoples of the region, especially the Kurdish people, using their armed mercenaries. For this purpose, the Turkish state has sent tens of thousands of terrorists to Syrian territory. It hopes to occupy large areas in Northern and Eastern Syria.”

The statement said that hundreds of thousands of Kurds were forcibly displaced to Shehba after the occupation of Rai, Bab, Ezaz, Mare and Afrin in 2018.

They forced local people to leave and replaced them with mercenaries

Pointing out that Erdogan changed the demographic composition of the region after the displacement of the people in Afrin with the approval of many Western and Arab countries, the statement added: “They forced the people of Afrin out and they gathered the mercenaries and their families from all Syrian lands and settled them in Afrin. They built colonial houses on the lands of the people of Afrin. The citizens of Afrin, who have been living in the camps for 4 years, are faced with a severe embargo. Turkish president Erdogan once again threatened to attack the Northern and Eastern Syria regions. He especially threatened Manbij and Til Rifet. This shows that Erdogan continues is willing to continue with his policies of exterminating migrant peoples in the camps.”

The statement also emphasized that the people of Afrin and Shehba living in camps stand by the Autonomous Administration.

Promise to the martyrs and the people: We will liberate our lands!

The statement also said: "As the Afrin Region Autonomous Administration, we condemn the silence of the international community and the guarantor countries in Syria about Erdogan's threats and the attacks by the mercenaries that cause material and human damage to Shehba, Sherawa, Northern and Eastern Syria regions. We also condemn the silence of the humanitarian and legal institutions. We promise to our martyrs and to our resisting people that we will fight until the threats of invasion come to an end and we liberate our lands."