The Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) released a statement to mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the Turkish attack on the city of Afrin and its countryside.

The MSD statement released on Friday includes the following:

“Today marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the Turkish aggression against the city of Afrin and its countryside, which resulted in the occupation of the city after legendary resistance against the occupation, which used all weapons to thwart the Autonomous Administration project.

Since the occupation of the Afrin, the region has been living a tragic reality at all levels. Fighting between the factions has become a constant state in the diaries of the city and its countryside, in addition to Turkish violations against the indigenous people.

The city witnesses daily cases of kidnapping, murder, seizure of property, and looting of civilian homes, along with the unlawful torture of indigenous people in detention centers, all of which is added to the policy of Turkification in Afrin, its countryside, and all other occupied areas in northern Syria, where education in the Turkish language has been imposed. Also, the imposition of dealing in the Turkish lira instead of the Syrian one, and changing the names of streets, public squares and schools, is irrefutable evidence of the policy of demographic change pursued by the Turkish occupation army in the occupied areas in Syria.

Not far from the Afrin region, thousands of IDPs in the Shehba areas are still waiting to return home, and have been struggling to survive in the camps during all these years without any UN outreach program.

The region is experiencing signs of a process of rapprochement between the Turkish regime and the government in Damascus. This is happening despite the Turkish occupation, and it is the Syrians themselves who are suffering. The biggest beneficiary of the current situation is Erdoğan, who is preparing for the upcoming elections in Turkey. Assad, on the other hand, is seeking to end the international isolation imposed on him. This rapprochement will undoubtedly stop the already stalled peace process in Syria.

We call on the international powers and the Arab League to stand against the Turkish state's policies to invade the lands of its neighbours. We recall once again that this policy poses a threat not only to Syria but also to its unity. We urge the international powers and the Arab League to assume responsibility in the face of the suffering of Afrin's indigenous people."