It has been revealed that after a series of meetings in İstanbul, the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) has reversed the statements of the committee it formed to examine in Girê Spî (Tal Abyad), which denied YPG pressures on local Arabs and Turkmens.

Speaking to ANF, Syrian Kurdish Human Rights Association (DAD) member Mihemed İsmet who was part of the committee said that the committee manipulated existing data after the meeting in Istanbul in order to portray YPG as an occupying and terrorist force.

Turkish state, SNC and other groups had claimed that YPG was pressuring and deporting Arab and Turkmen residents of Girê Spî after the liberation of the town. SUK had announced in June that it would form a committee in order to investigate the claims on the deportation and oppression of Arabs and Turkmens in Girê Spî. ENKS affiliated DAD was invited to the committee but was later replaced with representatives from the Syrian Transition Government and SNC. Mihemed İsmet from DAD was the only human rights association representative in the committee that interviewed Arabs and Turkmens in Akçakale. In these interviews, Arab and Turkmen civilians stated that YPG had not pressured them in any way. İsmet quoted interviewees’ who had said that they could return to their lands whenever they wanted, and YPJ/YPG forces were in Girê Spî only for the establishment of security and democracy in the town. The committee was summoned to Istanbul after its interviews in Akçakale and its field report was reversed after a series of meetings in order to claim that YPG had pressured and deported Arab and Turkmen civilians

’COMMITTEE CHANGED STATEMENTS IN ORDER TO BLAME YPG’

Mihemed İsmet stated that they withdrew from the committee for its biased political approach as well as its failure to include human rights association representatives. İsmet said that they objected to the composition of the committee by SNC and Transition Government representatives, but their objection was dismissed. İsmet said that Arab and Turkmen people were directed to make statements blaming YPG and the only goal of the committee was to portray YPG as an occupying terrorist force. İsmet stated that they withdrew from the committee after they were summoned to Istanbul before they could finish the committee report. Committee representative İsmet stated that the report released on June 27 did not reflect the truth and peoples’ statements were reversed after a series of meetings in Istanbul.

‘I SUSPECT THAT TURKISH STATE OFFICIALS WERE PRESENT IN THE MEETING’

İsmet stated that he suspected Turkish state officials’ participation in the meeting with Syrian Transition Government members in Istanbul, and the committee prepared a manipulative report after its failure to gather statements blaming YPG.

‘IT BECAME CLEAR THAT YPG DID NOT OPPRESS OR DEPORT PEOPLE’

İsmet stated that the interviews showed that YPG was not an occupying force deporting Arab and Turkmen peoples in Girê Spî, and the report was manipulative. İsmet said that many Arab and Turkmen interviewees had explained how YPG liberated from ISIS brutality and their decision to leave the town was a result of armed confrontation in the town. İsmet ended his statement by saying that the majority of the interviewees were either returning or planning to return to Girê Spî since the liberation of the town.