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Kurds Representation Offices Lead to Partition Plan in Syria | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Kurds Representation Offices Lead to Partition Plan in Syria

Beirut- The refugee crisis at the Turkish border has exacerbated as Russia and the Syrian regime increased their military pressure in the northern city of Aleppo, thus causing tens of thousands of Syrians to resort to the Turkish border seeking protection and safety.

Whereas “Separatist Fears” have emerged again within the Syrian Kurds who announced their plans to inaugurate “representation” offices in Moscow and other several capitals, opening the door of partition plan in Syria.

“The autonomous Syrian Kurdish region will open an office in Moscow on February 10 and is preparing to open another in Berlin, with Washington, Paris and Arab countries coming later,” said Amina Oussi, head deputy of the Hasakeh committee for external relations.

“These representation offices aim to secure recognition for the autonomous Kurdish region” in Syria, she said.

Amina Oussi added: “We tried to work to give legitimacy to the self-management at the regional and international levels”.

In the past few days, the Syrian army backed by Russian air power has made a series of gains in Aleppo province.

Since 2012, Aleppo has been divided into rebel and government-held areas. Before the conflict it was a key commercial center and home to over two million people.

On the other hand, a source from the Syrian opposition said that around 70 thousand refugees from Aleppo and its countryside are still stuck at Bab al-Salam border crossing, and he expected the number to increase up to 300 thousand refugees if the bombardment continued on Idlib countryside.

The United Nations stated: “In addition to the thousands at the border, another 10,000 people were estimated to have been displaced to the Kurdish town of Afrin, elsewhere in northern Aleppo.”

“The fighting has also disrupted major aid and supply routes from the Turkish border,” it added.

Mevlut Cavusoglu, Foreign Minister of Turkey, which has already taken in 2.5 million Syrians, said up to 55,000 were now fleeing to the frontier.

Cavusoglu said the border was open, but at the Oncupinar crossing near the Turkish city of Kilis, which has been largely shut for nearly a year, refugees were being shepherded into camps on the Syrian side.

The local governor on the Turkish side of the border, Suleyman Tapsiz, said around 35,000 Syrians had reached Oncupinar in the space of 48 hours.

“Our doors are not closed, but at the moment there is no need to host such people inside our borders,” he said.

Turkey has been providing food, shelter and blankets to thousands of civilians who are stranded on the Syrian side of the border.