The Army of Revolutionaries (Jaysh al-Thuwar) General Commander Haci Ahmed said Russia and the Turks had gotten closer after the Manbij blockade and the Raqqa operation and added: “Turkey developed a serious relationship with Iran too in the Shehba region. As a result of their cooperation, strong lines of communication were also built between the Syrian regime and the Turks. They developed a great network of intelligence and they are using it against us. This cooperation can reach different levels in the future.”

SHEHBA EVACUATED

Hacı Ahmed stated that 70% of the region has been evacuated and said most was gotten rid of by accusations, confiscation of their property or unsolved murders. Hacı Ahmed said these methods were employed through Al Nusra, Ahrar Al Sham and Sultan Murad and Yavuz Sultan Selim brigades and continued:

- They abduct the people they choose and subject them to torture. Then they let the people go in return for hefty ransoms and remove them from the region.

- Another method is to give the houses and property of the people they exile to Turkmens, thus closing the door on the possibility of a return.

- The people can’t harvest their crops and make a living, and are forced to sell their property. This is used as another method to force migration and evacuation.

Haci Ahmed said these methods are employed from Azaz to Jarablus and added: “They buy houses and lands from people they left without choice in an attempt to create a pilot region. They want to develop this in Çobanbey (Rai) the most. They will continue this without raising too much of a fuss for the public, spread over time.”

STRENGTHENING TURKMEN GROUPS

Hacı Ahmed stated that the Turkish state started to disband the groups they have no more use for, to strengthen those allied to them, namely the groups they managed to Turkify, and eliminate the others: “The strenghtening focuses on Turkmen groups. They want them to control the region. They send so called ‘domestic security forces’ to cities they invaded and put them in control. Because the groups are directly under them. The training centers are all in Turkey’s cities. Everything about these groups, from the training to the oath ceremony is according to the Turkish style.”

LOOKING FOR MILITARY CONTROL

Jaysh al-Thuwar General Commander Haci Ahmed stated that Turkey started to demolish all the historic buildings in the cities they invade and put up new homes for their allies and continued: “And in places they do this, they put up writings in Turkish and photographs of Atatürk. They are employing a full-on Turkifying policy. But they are having a hard time in al-Bab and Azaz. They built a military base in the Sheikh Akil Hill in al-Bab. The same policy they use in Southern Kurdistan is in place here as well. They are aiming to achieve military control over the whole region.”

GOOD FOR IRAN AND SYRIA AS WELL

Haci Ahmed stressed that Arabs from Damascus, Hama and Homs as well as Turkmens from Turkmendağı and Idlib were settled in the Shehba region, and added: “Iran and Syria are in on this. They are also settling Arabs from Damascus, Hama and Homs here. Because this situation is good for them as well. Iran employs these policies very well. The Shehba region has become a great area of use for them. In the long term, the most gains will be made by Iran here.”