Citing the fighting in Aleppo and the recent liberation of Manbij, which will “bring changes to the region,” said Hevi Mustafa, “a state of emergency was announced in Afrin canton and all the preparations have been completed for this.”
Mustafa added that Afrin canton has been under siege for five years and they cannot succeed if they do not adapt.
The declaration of the state of emergency comes two days after the liberation of Manbij by the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and a few hours after the creation of the al-Bab Military Council to coordinate the liberation of that city from Islamic State.
Afrin canton is under control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish security forces.
It is the desire of the Kurds of Rojava to link up Afrin canton with its cantons in the east, Kobane and Cizre.
A Kurdish affairs analyst who has regular contact with the SDF, Mutlu Civiroglu, told Germany’s Deutsche Welle on Sunday that the SDF’s primary aim is to link up with Afrin and clear remaining ISIS militants along the border with Turkey instead of capturing Raqqa, which is the ultimate goal of the US-led coalition in Syria.
“The SDF desires to go west to Afrin, which has been under political and economic embargo by the al-Nusra Front and other Turkey supported groups for over two years,” Civiroglu said.
Turkey opposes Kurdish moves to link up their cantons. Ankara considers the PYD to be a terrorist group and an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and does not want to see a Kurdish territory stretched across its southern border.
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