Caabu director Chris Doyle spoke on an Al Jazeera English panel discussion about Turkey's invasion of northern Syria.
Doyle warned of “the stirring up of ethnic and sectarian tensions that will be pitting Turk, Kurd and Arab against each other in a way that actually will disrupt the stability of the region.” He referred to the many Syrians fleeing but “they don't know where to flee to. There aren't clear areas that are going to be safe.”
He expressed alarm that Turkey was considering sending 1-2 million Syrian refugees to live in the “safe zone” Turkey wishes to create. “Those refugees have to be returned voluntarily, to the areas of Syria that they come from, not to the area that Turkey wishes them to be.” Doyle made clear though that Europe had not done enough to share the load on Syrian refugees. “Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have not got the help that they deserved, and that they have been left to carry the burden.”
Doyle also questioned Turkey’s stated objectives: “There is very little credibility in the claims that Turkey is sympathetic to the needs and interests of the Kurdish population in Syria. It sees Kurdish groups as potentially wanting to establish a an autonomous or semi-autonomous presence or even worse for them, a state in Northern Syria.”
