About two years ago, several hundred thousand people from the Afrin region were displaced or forced to flee to the Shahbah region to the north of Aleppo in Northern Syria. Now, they have to fear for their lives again, as there are rumors about secret additional agreements to the "Moscow Protocol" between Putin and Erdogan. During their talks in Moscow on March 5, 2020, the two heads of state had agreed on a ceasefire in the embattled Syrian province of Idlib.  

"Now, there are speculations in Arabic-language media, including social media, about a possible resettlement of at least 125,000 of people who were displaced from Afrin to the central Syrian province of Raqqa, which is mainly inhabited by Arabs," stated Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP's Middle East expert. Russia is said to have called upon the Kurdish self-government in northern Syria to resettle the Kurdish refugees living near Aleppo. Representatives of the self-government, however, are denying any secret agreements between Putin and Erdogan regarding a resettlement. "The autonomous self-government cannot and should not resettle anyone by force," Sido explained after talks with Kurdish representatives. "Resettlement plans like this must be categorically rejected. The refugees from Afrin want to return to their homes, not be relocated to a desert near Raqqa."

"Russian officers have repeatedly told Kurdish demonstrators in front of their military posts in the north of Aleppo that they will have to leave the region," emphasized Sido, who last visited the northern Syrian region in April 2019. "Thus, the fears of the refugees from Afrin are not unfounded." This is not the first time that Putin and Erdogan made arrangements at the expense of the Syrian civilian population. Apparently, the two potentates see the refugees as a means to blackmail other states.

Turkey's attack on the Syrian-Kurdish region of Afrin started on January 20, 2018. Around 300,000 members of the Kurdish minority and the Yazidi, Christian, and other religious communities were displaced or forced to flee. Since then, the region has been suffering from the occupation by Turkish troops and Islamist militias, which is to be seen as a violation of international law.

Headerimage: Russian Presidential Executive Office via Wikimedia Commons.