By Omer Koparan
MANBIJ, Syria (AA) - Locals of Manbij, whose lands were occupied by PKK terrorist group's Syrian wing YPG in northern Syria eight years ago, oppose the so-called local elections that the terrorist organization plans to hold in the occupied regions and believe that this aims to divide the country.
The district center, town and villages of Manbij, whose population overwhelmingly consists of Arabs with close to 99%, were occupied by the terrorist organization PKK/YPG with the support of the US in 2016.
The US, which promised that PKK/YPG members would leave Manbij, did not fulfill its commitments.
Civilians escaping from the methods of forced recruitment, kidnapping of children and drug addiction and extortion imposed by the terrorist organization under the pretext of "tax" in the occupied territories, have migrated to the Turkish border.
Displaced people from Manbij told Anadolu that the terrorist organization aims to divide Syria with the so-called local election plan to be held on June 11 in the occupied areas of Hasakah, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor provinces and the Aleppo countryside.
Abdulraheem Omar, who had to escape from the PKK/YPG occupation and migrate to the Jarablus district, said: "This structure called SDF does not represent the people of Manbij in any way. By entering Manbij, it restricted freedom of expression and the use of rights, and implemented its terrorist and separatist agenda by using people affiliated with it."
Pointing out that the terrorist group is trying to organize so-called elections that it claims will be held for the people and Manbij, Omar said: "These elections are just a game for the people of Manbij. They will not be accepted by the people in Manbij and the forcibly displaced people."
"Those who are ostensibly from Manbij will only serve the interests of this extreme terrorist and separatist party," he added, further stating that YPG "serves foreign agendas aiming to to change the demography of the country and corrupts young people by getting them involved in drugs."
YPG has a structure that "only recruits children and women, corrupts the people and declares war on moral values," he added.
"We, as the exiled sons of Manbij, demand the removal of this terrorist party from Manbij from all societies that defend human rights and support peace for our lands and country from which we were forcibly removed. This is the voice of not only me but all the free Syrian people and especially the people of Manbij," he further said.
- 'Elections dividing Syria'
On the other hand, another local by the name of Shavvak Assaf, who had to migrate from Shuyuk village in the north of Manbij, said: "We have been away from our lands for 10 years. We left the lands where we have lived for approximately 350 years, due to the pressure by the terrorist organization PKK. My home and lands are right next to me, but I cannot go there."
"These elections are the scenario of dividing Syria. These regions are Arab regions. This is against all world politics and law," he said.
Adding that they live in tents, Assaf added that their lands "have been usurped."
"Nobody is doing anything about it. Our children and women are only clinging to the hope of returning."
- 'Attempt to disintegrate Syria'
Another Manbij local, Abdullatif Hamo said: "We were expelled from our land and our home by this organization about 10 years ago. Although we tried to return many times during these 10 years, they did not accept us because we were of Arab origin."
Saying that YPG members destroyed and burned their houses, Hamo added that they "have no problem with the Kurds, what separates us from each other are the terrorists in Qandil," in reference to areas occupied by PKK terrorists at Mt. Qandil in northern Iraq.
"We heard that the organization will hold so-called elections. This is an attempt to divide Syria. Syria is a single state with all its ethnic origins. The first action of the Qandil terrorists, who have been working on the division of Syria for years, was to hold elections," he said.
"The terrorists coming from Qandil want to establish a state here. They are not even Syrians. Syrian Kurds, Arabs, Druze and Sunnis do not want the country to be divided in any way. They want Syria to remain a single state," he concluded.