ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich on Friday told Rudaw that there should be a decrease in violence when asked about the demographic changes in the Kurdish city of Afrin in Syria.
Responding to a question during a telephonic press briefing by Rudaw on reports of demographic changes Afrin by Turkey and its Syrian proxies, Ethan said that they call for maintaining ceasefires in Syria.
"Our policy … calls for reduction in violence and maintaining ceasefires. So, we work toward that aspect of our policy as well - that we don't want to see any escalations of violence in Syria which contributes to worsening conditions for people in Syria, which we're trying to avoid,” said the top US official who is responsible for the Levant and Syria engagement.
Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies launched Operation Olive Branch on January 20, 2018, in Afrin. Ankara seized control of the city from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) on March 24 same year.
The conflict forced hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Kurds, to flee the city. Most of them have not returned to their homes.
Thousands of Kurds have been arrested and kidnapped while hundreds of others have been killed since Turkey seized control of Afrin city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).
Reporting by Mohammed Othman
