08 May 2017•Update: 09 May 2017
By Muslum Etgu
SANLIURFA, Turkey
Syrian refugees from northern Tal Abyad town who now live in southeastern Turkey say they wish to return to their homes that have been seized by the PKK terror group’s Syrian offshoot, PYD.
Halil Abbut, a 65-year-old Arab-origin man who was the local town administrator of Tal Abyad for 33 years, is one of the hundreds of people who were forced by the PYD to migrate to Turkey’s border district of Akcakale in southeastern Sanliurfa province two years back.
“The PYD seized our houses and soil, and gave them to Kurds who were brought in from Iraq, Iran and other parts of Syria,” Abbut told Anadolu Agency.
"Before the PYD’s arrival, the majority of people in the town comprised of Arabs,” he said.
Around 500,000 Syrians are now living across Sanliurfa, according to the Turkish Interior Ministry.
Backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, the PKK/PYD seized control of Tal Abyad from Daesh in June 2015, prompting Arab and Turkmen residents of the area to flee.
Amnesty International accuses the PYD of committing war crimes in predominantly Arab and Turkmen areas of northern Syria.
“They forced us to migrate. They seized our soil under the name of ‘democracy.’ How democrat are they?” he said, adding: “They are no different from the terror organization, PKK.”
Turkey has repeatedly called for an end to U.S. support for the PYD, the terrorist PKK group’s Syrian affiliate.
But while the U.S. classifies the PKK as terrorists, it calls the PYD its ally in the fight against Daesh in Syria.
Abbut said he and his family are very thankful to the Turkish government for their support to Syrians and added that they were happy with living in Akcakale.
However, he said, he dreams of returning to Tal Abyad before he dies.
“We don’t want terror organizations on our soil. No matter what the cost, we will not surrender it to terror organizations,” he added.
Reporting by Muslum Etgu; Writing by Nilay Kar
