City’s displaced people await entry of Turkish forces to purge region of terrorist presence
Displaced people from Manbij now staying at refugee camps in northern Aleppo have voiced their support for the entry of Turkish forces into their city with a view to ensuring peace and security.
In a statement released by Manbij’s Albo-Shaaban tribe, tribal spokesmen called on the Turkish army to “drive the PYD/PKK terrorist gangs from Manbij and end the group’s tyrannical practices against civilians”.
According to the tribe, local civilians have been subject to extortion, detention and torture -- which in some cases has led to death -- at the hands of the terrorist group.
“The people of Manbij are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Turkish army [to the city],” read the statement, released late Sunday night.
“We call on the city’s Arab, Kurdish, Circassian and Turkmen residents to rest assured that their lives and property are safe,” tribal spokesman Mansour Abdel-Aal said.
A deal struck last month by Turkey and the U.S. calls for the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terrorist group from Manbij with a view to ensuring the region’s stability.
The PKK’s 30-year terror campaign against Turkey has claimed some 40,000 lives, including those of women and children. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian affiliate.
Should the Manbij model prove successful, Ankara will push for a similar arrangement in eastern Syria.
Turkey views the terrorist groups operating near its southern border as a clear and present threat and has launched two major military operations with the stated aim of eliminating them.
