Officials of the Syrian National Army (SNA) stated that they hope to transform the places liberated from terrorist groups into civilian settlements with local councils, ministers and basic services, including education and health, with the help of Turkey.
"If we look at what Turkey has done, including in Operation Olive Branch and in Operation Euphrates Shield, it cannot be compared to any other country. Infrastructure and schools were built in these liberated areas and they were prepared to be inhabitable again," stated Youssef Hammoud, spokesman of the SNA, yesterday.
"There has been a systematic displacement carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) [an umbrella group dominated by the YPG] trying to form a Syrian Kurdistan with a part of Syrian territory. We suffered from terrorism, we suffered with the Assad regime, we suffered from the YPG," stated a member of the SNA, Mustafa Sejari.
Adding that the SNA takes the lead in this fight based on Syrians' interests, Sejari said that the SNA has also fought Daesh.
Hammoud underlined that the SNA, which is composed of around 80,000 fighters, was trained to abide by international laws and was instructed on how to treat prisoners and civilians with the help of the military expertise of the Turkish army whereas the terrorist groups, the YPG and the PKK as well as the Bashar Assad regime mistreat civilians and force children to join their ranks. Prisoners are treated violently and collective punishment of innocent civilians cause further humanitarian crises in the war-torn country.
The SNA officials further called on the international community, which has been condemning the latest operation, to align to support Syria's interests.
"I also have a few words on the Arab League – they call themselves the Arab League yet they support terrorism that is conducted against Arabs," Hammoud said.
Arab foreign ministers on Saturday condemned Turkey's anti-terror operation, calling for an immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops. The statement came after an emergency session of the Arab League in Cairo called for by Egypt.
"What is happening in Syria is an attempt to support separatist groups to reach their endgame. Terrorist groups are used for foreign agenda and to kill Syrians," Sejari stated.
