French writer Gérard Chaliand, one of the participants to the International Forum about the Demographic Change and Ethnic Cleaning in Afrin, spoke to ANF.

“The intervention in Afrin is absolutely illegal," said Chaliand who summed up the purpose of the invasion like this: “Minimising Kurdish control of the border between Turkey and Syria.”

Chaliand said that the occupation decision was made after negotiations between Turks and the Russians.

“Turkey and Russia, no matter what kind of a solution (in Syria) will be reached, are two countries with which to deal. For the Americans, Syria is of secondary importance. For the French, it is not the most important thing in the world.”

Chaliand, who considers the international community's attitude towards human rights violations as a “lack of courage”, said: “There was no respect for anything. It was completely illegal. There was a huge people displacement and a real ethnic cleansing.”

Writer Chaliand also evaluated the French media's covering of the invasion of Afrin. “There is some awareness about what is going on - he said - but not much. We came here to help get the situation out. The situation is really hard. I think the Kurds really need help.”