“They are a military force. What shall a military force do in civil offices? The military forces have come for the frontlines. They will not stay inside the city,” said YPG spokesperson Brusk Hasaka.
The current administration in Afrin will continue in its role, he said, and the pro-Syrian government forces will fight alongside the YPG at the frontlines.
The Syrian forces entered Afrin after an agreement was reached between the YPG and regime authorities, according to conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Hasaka clarified, saying the Syrian forces were in Afrin to fulfill their responsibility on Syrian territory, describing them as all “owners of one home.”
Their arrival “is part of their responsibility to their soil and to protect their existing borders,” he said.
An opposition group in Rojava, the Kurdish National Council (KNC, ENKS) has condemned the arrival of the pro-Syrian government groups in Afrin.
The presence of the Syrian forces will “constitute a threat to the future of [Afrin] and to the rights of the Kurdish people,” ENKS warned in a published statement on Friday, expressing fear that the demography of Afrin may be “targeted” by the regime force.
Condemning Turkey’s operation, ENKS called on international powers to end the conflict and speed up efforts “to find a political solution in the country.”
The UN Security Council will vote on a draft ceasefire agreement on Friday evening that would encompass all of Syria, including Turkey’s Afrin operation.
Germany’s Foreign Office said that, despite Turkey’s “legitimate security interests,” they are “gravely concerned about the obvious risk of escalation.”
“That is why we repeatedly make clear in our talks with Turkey that its security interests must be balanced and reflect requirements. However, the entire situation in and around Afrin primarily shows that we are facing an extremely complex political problem and therefore urgently need to return to a political process,” the office stated on Thursday.
The Turkish army and its Syrian proxies launched Operation Olive Branch on January 20, with the stated aim to drive out the Kurdish forces from the border area. Ankara considers the YPG and the ruling political party in Rojava, PYD, branches of the PKK, a named terror organization.
The Kurdish groups in Syria follow the political doctrine of Ocalan, democratic confederalism, but insist they are distinct from the PKK in Turkey.
Turkey has taken control of some 17 percent of Afrin, the Observatory reported on Friday.
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