Salih Muslim

Salih Muslim

Jan Nasro, ARA News, June 18, 2015

Urfa, Turkey – Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) said Wednesday that the People’s Protection Units (YPG) will deliver the liberated city of Tel Abyad (Gire Spi) in Raqqa province to local civilians, after reinforcing security across the city.

Two days ago, the Kurdish YPG forces, with the support of the U.S.-led coalition’s warplanes, were able to expel the Islamic State group (IS/ISIS) from the area, after two years of control over the city.

In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, Saleh Muslim, the PYD co-chair, said: “In the coming days, the city and its surroundings will be cleared of mines, in parallel with the formation of defensive lines to counter any IS attacks.”

“After imposing security, civilians, who have been forced to leave the city, will be asked to return, and then a civil administration will be formed in which all the social components will be fairly represented,” he added.

Muslim pointed out that the YPG forces along with other allied rebel factions will hand over the city to the Asayish security forces which will be formed by locals.

A civil administration will run the city without any intervention by the security forces.

He also pointed to the possibility of establishing a joint administration for the border crossing with Burkan al-Furat rebels, Liwaa at-Tahrir and the Raqqa’s Rebels Brigade, reassuring Turkish concerns in this regard.

“When Turkey feels comfortable for its border security, we also definitely feel comfortable,” he argued.

About the claims of ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Turkmen by the YPG forces, Muslim explained: “All the components of the city will return, except those who participated in killing civilians and supported Daesh (Islamic State), they will be brought to trial.”

He pointed out that there are also 10-12 thousands of Kurds who were displaced from Tel Abyad on the hand of IS and allied Islamists.

Over the last few days, Turkey tightened security measures near the border area adjacent to Tel Abyad, following the advance made by Kurdish fighters and allied there and the influx of thousands of refugees into Turkish territory.

Reporting by: Jan Nasro

Source: ARA News

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