Turkish-Backed Organization Which Will Take Part In a Likely Military Operation East of the Euphrates: The National Army

US Logistics Line For Arm and Ammunition Supplies To The SDF/YPG

Turkish Indigenous Weapon Systems Used In The Euphrates Shield And Olive Branch Operations

S-300 air defence systems supplied by Russia to the Assad regime

Turkey’s Partner in Syria

The PYD’s Foreign Representatives The PYD was founded in 2003, yet its operations are not limited to Syria as they are also active in Europe. European countries, although hesitant towards the PYD, allow for representative offices to be opened. The PYD establishes its organizational foothold not only by using its own organization but instead also establishes a presence through using the YPG/YPJ and the SDF/SDC. Besides their offices in Europe, their offices in Moscow and the US are undoubtedly the most important ones. However, the office opened in the US has not yet gained full recognition. The office’s presence is derived from statements by PKK/PYD/SDF sources and the US has not made official statements concerning the recognition of the office. The PKK/PYD uses the SDF’s political wing the SDC for its office in the US. This situation seems to be a result of a consideration of US-Turkey ties, however Turkey and the Turkish public does not believe there is a distinction in the SDF/PYD/PKK. The fact that Sinam Mohamed, appointed as the US representative, joined the openings of the PYD’s many representative offices in Europe seems to confirm this.   The PYD’s Foreign Representatives; Zuhat Kobane – PYD Europe Representative/Officer Serbest Welad – PYD Oslo/Norway Representative Sipan İbrahim – PYD Berlin/Germany Representative Ayhan Efrini – PYD Bremen/Germany Representative Şervan Hasan – PYD The Hague/Benelux Representative Ahmed Şemo – PYD London/UK representative Koçer Haseke – PYD Brussels/Belgium Representative Halid İsa – PYD Paris/France Representative Şiyar Ali – PYD Stockholm/Sweden Representative Abdusselam Muhammed Ali – PYD Moscow/Russia Representative Bave Hüseyin – PYD Copenhagen/Denmark Representative İman Derviş – YPJ Prague/Czech Republic Representative Xerib Huso – PYD KRG Representative Sinam Mohamed – SDC/SDF Washington/US Representative

Manbij Military Council The US-backed YPG/SDF forces which have been in control of the city of Manbij since August 2016 are present in the city under the Manbij Military Council. The Manbij Military Council was founded near the Tishreen Dam on the 2th of April 2016 and includes Arab elements. In the past the founding of the Manbij Military Council was showed as being one of inclusion and consensus. An example of this is that those who fought for the FSA were appointed to top positions like Abu Leyla who was appointed as the head of the council. After Abu Leyla was killed by a mortar strike during the offensive on Manbij, Adnan Abu Amjad was appointed as his replacement. After Abu Amjad was killed in the YPG/SDF offensive on Raqqa, Muhammed Abu Adil was his replacement in turn. These names were from former FSA ranks. Besides these names, Talal Silo who was the former SDF spokesman, claimed that the real administrator was the PKK. Talal Silo stated to Turkish media that the Arab elements in the SDF joined to show the image of a coalition, while the real decision maker is Qandil. Talal Silo shared information about the administration of YPG/SDF territories as he was a part of the SDF before. He has given precise examples showing the accuracy of the information he has provided. Silo has provided the names of the PKK members responsible for Manbij, claiming that military responsibility lies with Cemil Mazlum while the administrative responsibility for Manbij lies with Ismail Derik. The spokesman of the Council Shervan Dervish had a poster of PKK’s founding leader Abdullah Öcalan in his office, confirming Talal Silo’s statements.

Jindires Local Council    The establishment of the Jinderes Local Council followed that of the Afrin Provisional Local Council. The Jinderes Local Council comprises of a total of 15 members with 11 Kurds and 4 Arabs, and with Subi Rizik as the elected chairperson. Chairperson Rizik has declared that the multiethnic council’s main objective is to improve on the town’s schools and health facilities, develop its sewage system, and enhance its security infrastructure. As does the Afrin council, Jindires’ local council will also operate under the council of Aleppo.  

Afrin Provisional Local Council The Afrin Provisional Local Council was established through the election of 20 representatives from 380 candidates. The council comprises of 11 Kurds, 8 Arabs, and 1 Turkmen. Afrin is also administered by an eight-member executive council. The members of this council include chairperson of the provisional local council Zuhair Haidar (Kurd), deputy chairperson Abdulrahman Nabhan (Arab), Zakariah Muhammad, Jasim al Siferi, Ahmad Haj Hasan, Abdulrahman Najjar, Horu Othman, and Muhammad Sheikh Rashid. As a member of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, the Afrin council will operate under the Local Council of Aleppo. The criteria for eligibility to be elected as a representative of the council are as follows: To be an officially registered resident of Afrin and to actively reside in the city To have received a sufficient education To carry the capacity of popular representation Not to be affiliated in any way with a terrorist organization To be suitable representative with regard to the city’s demographic and ethnic composition Chairperson of Afrin Provisional Local Council Zuhair Haidar said during a press conference, “We can conduct a more democratic election with the participation of all residents of Afrin. We will govern ourselves. We will not be governed by those coming here from Kandil, or from anywhere else.”

The Assad regime a committed a total of 215 chemical attacks against civilians since 2012, with most of the casualties being women and children.