Turkmen clan leader Ehmed Mihemed El Ibrahim spoke to ANHA about the “safe zone” the Turkish state wants to set up in Northern and Eastern Syria under their surveillance. El Ibrahim said no state has the right to interfere with Syria’s domestic affairs.

El Ibrahim said the whole world knows that the citizens in SDF controlled areas are the true owners of these lands: “We Turkmens live in peace, together, with all our rights guaranteed. SDF defends us and our region. We are present in all assemblies, NGOs and military forces under the Autonomous Administration.”

El Ibrahim said the Syrians who were forced to cross into Turkey due to the war are used by the Turkish state as political ammunition and continued: “Thanks to the young people’s honorable resistance, our region is the safest area in Syria. Here we live together without problems.”

El Ibrahim also protested the Turkish state claims that the people of Northern and Easter Syria were forced to move away and said: “These claims by the Turkish state are not true. Are the gangs settled in Aleppo and Afrin, occupied by the Turkish state now, the local people of these lands? The Turkish state pushed the true owners of those lands away, they changed the demographic makeup and they settled forces loyal to them in these areas.”

El Ibrahim repeated that they are against a “safe zone” to be set up by the Turkish state in Northern and Eastern Syria and added that they won’t accept interventions with Syria’s domestic affairs.