On the evening of Dec. 6, the Turkish-led extremist “Syrian National Army” (SNA) in northwestern Syria announced its attack on Manbij. This only because Manbij is part of the area protected by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). There are 800,000 people living in and around Manbij. This high number is partly due to the many indigenous refugees who found refuge here from the rest of Syria.
The residents of Manbij are guilty of nothing more than wanting to live in Syria without being occupied by extremists. Manbij is a mainly Arab place with other minorities such as Circassians, Turkmen and Kurds. Manbij was liberated by the SDF in 2016 but has its own military defense within the SDF and its own council that governs the city and its surroundings.
In the past week, the SNA has been guilty of the mass expulsion of 200,000 (mostly) Kurdish people from Tal Rifat. Now the SNA wants to expel even more people, just as the fall of Assad brought an end to the Syrian civil war in sight. The Syrian National Army is a collection of extremist militias operating under Erdogan’s orders. Erdogan wants to control Manbij and preferably all of northeastern Syria so that his extremist rule will also define Syria. After Manbij, Turkey’s goal is to also attack the areas in northern and western Syria where Syriac, Armenians and other populations live, which will create refugee flows from these regions as well.
The experience of the past 10 years has made it clear to us that the various European parliaments will not act against Turkey unless there is great pressure from society. The European taxpayer has a right to see this stopped.
Recent figures from Eurostat and EUAA (European Union Agency for Asylum) show that Syrians were by far the largest group of asylum seekers in recent years. Of course, there should and must be decent shelter for people fleeing war, but this costs a lot and must be paid for by taxpayers.
Preventing unnecessary human suffering in this case also means preventing costs to taxpayers. The residents of Manbij do not want to become refugees, but if we allow Erdogan to expel them, they will eventually become asylum seekers in Europe.
National parliaments and Europe can each put real pressure on Turkey to make a serious effort to stop an attack on Manbij. The people there as well as the taxpayers here have a right to that.