Tom Préel

The Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the latest developments in Syria: Main takeaways: “What matters to us in these conditions is that we opened a humanitarian corridor to save our people in the Aleppo countryside.” Aleppo and Shahba (Tal Rifaat): With the support of the international coalition, we evacuated a large portion of the residents of Tal Rifaat and al-Shahba. A section of our forces returned from the Aleppo countryside to northeastern Syria Regarding the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, there are still about 250 thousand people there. Our forces are present in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods. Our Kurdish people must hold on to their identity in the new Aleppo. (Emphasis on New Aleppo!) Commander of the woman’s protection forces (YPJ) Rohlat Afrin: our forces are present in Aleppo and we will work towards liberating the woman (of the YPJ) held captive (by the Turkish led SNA) “We knew about the developments in Aleppo for two months and we have taken appropriate measures and we were ready” There is an agreement between the USA and the HTS in regard to the evacuation of IDPs in Shahba - we closely monitor the situation and how the HTS adheres to their guarantees. Our work is committed to freeing the trapped IDPs in Shahba (Tal Rifaat). The Afrin Liberation Forces in Shahba resisted until the last minute. Communication channels with the Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) have been established in Aleppo. So far our forces have not clashed with the HTS. AANES - Rojava: The attempts by Turkey to attack and threaten Manbij and northeastern Syria continue, and we want to resolve the problems with Türkiye peacefully. By mediation through the USA and Russia we want to reduce the tensions with Turkey. We want to reduce tensions with Türkiye through Russian and American mediation. The SDF has sufficient forces to repel any Turkish aggression in our areas. After the withdrawal of the Syrian regime from Raqqa, Deirezzor and the Syrian desert (Badia) a huge security vacuum exists and the areas are under control of the Islamic State now. These regions must be protected from any ISIS attack. The work with the international coalition against ISIS will be expanded The developments in Syria require a political solution. And we support UN resolution 2245. What matters to us is protecting North and east syria from any attack thus we want to reduce tensions and find a political solution. We are in close contact with all parties (including Iraq) and we are in direct coordination with Russia and the USA