Syrian Opposition's Interim Government Defense Minister General Salim Idris: Kurds in Northern Syria Have Auschwitz and Buchenwald-Like Camps

General Salim Idris, the Defense Minister of the Syrian opposition's Interim Government, said in an October 21, 2019 interview on Al-Araby TV (U.K.) that the Kurds are a valued population in Syria, but that the areas they have taken control of in northern Syria are mostly populated by Arabs, Turkmen, and other non-Kurdish people. He said that the Kurds are trying to establish a mini-state resembling a “second Israel,” that they expelled 350,000 people from the land, that they slaughtered and killed people, and that they currently have 70,000 prisoners. In addition, General Idris claimed that the PYD has concentration camps comparable to Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

General Salim Idris: The Kurds are a dear sector of the Syrian people. We keep them deep in our hearts, and they are spread throughout different parts of Syria, not only in the north. But I am telling the facts as they are. The area that they took over – in which they want to establish a mini-state, a second Israel… Most of the towns and villages in that region are populated by Arabs, Turkmen, and others. There are entire areas, like the village of Tell Abyad, where there aren’t any Kurds. In occupied Tell Rifaat there are no Kurds today. Not a single one. The majority of the people of Manbij are Arabs, and the same is true of Raqqa. The [Kurds] came, expelled 350,000 people, burned crops, slaughtered and killed, and now they have 70,000 detainees. I would like to say to the international community that this terrorist party [PYD] has camps just like Auschwitz and Buchenwald in Germany. I studied in Germany and I’m familiar with those camps.