By Selen Temizer
ANKARA (AA) - Political solutions for Syria should head off new humanitarian crises and ensure the rights of the displaced people, who amid the civil war have spread across the globe, the head of the Syrian opposition coalition said on Friday.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency, Abdurrahman Mustafa told how the Assad regime crackdown on public protests in 2011 led to a mass exodus of Syrians over the next eight years, spreading globally to 127 countries in six continents.
Once the regime saw the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom, it sought help from militias from Lebanon and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as well as chemical weapons, he explained.
Mustafa decried the silence of the international community at large, as well as Russia’s stance, saying the civil war had led to both massacres and mass migration.
"The regime and its allies have not yet finished their plans yet, hundreds of thousands of civilians will be displaced in northern Syria," he said, referring to regime attacks on some of the last opposition strongholds.
"Any political solution sponsored by the UN should provide assurances for the return of the majority of Syrian refugees," he said.
- Syrians in Lebanon
"The situation of Syrians who have fallen into a deadlock, especially in Lebanese camps, is unacceptable," Mustafa said.
"We know that the provocative language [against Syrians] does not represent the Lebanese people," he added.
Nearly 1 million Syrian refugees are currently in Lebanon, second only to Turkey.
- Russia’s role
On Russia’s role, Mustafa said: "First they are supporting and contributing to massacres and deportations, and then they also impose an order undermining a political solution."
"They interfere with international mechanisms and prevent them from intervening," he argued.
- Turkey: Moral and loyal
"Today, Turkey is the most moral and loyal country in its humanitarian attitude towards the Syrian people," Mustafa said.
"Syrians will never forget the role Turkey plays by hosting the most Syrians among other countries," said Mustafa.
Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees, more than any country in the world.
Thousands of displaced Syrians were able to return to their homes, villages, and cities with the help of Turkish military operations, said Mustafa, in league with the Free Syrian Army, to liberate border regions of terrorists.
Since 2016, Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch have cleared large areas of northern Syria from the grip of Daesh and PKK/YPG terrorists.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including women and children. The YPG is its Syrian branch.
- Syrian refugees by the numbers
Since 2011, more than 13 million Syrians have been forced to leave their homes, making them the largest displaced community in the world.
Some 6.18 million of them were displaced within the country, while 6.65 million took refuge in other countries.
Some 140,000 Syrians sought asylum in 127 countries spread across six continents, but most -- 85% -- remained in the Middle East.
As of the end of 2018, the number of Syrians in Turkey reached 3.62 million.
Additionally, there are 944,200 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, 676,000 in Jordan, 300,000 in Iraq, 252,500, and 132,900 in Egypt.
Other major countries taking in Syrian refugees are Germany, with over 532,000 Syrians, Sweden, with over 109,000, Sudan, with over 93,000, Austria, with 49,000, the Netherlands, with 32,000, and Spain, with nearly 14,000.
The actual figures are higher than the official data, said Mustafa.
*Writing by Dilara Hamit