Assad's opposition group 'intends' to use 9 Iranian refugees in prisoner swap

Four months after the Turkish government handed over nine Iranian Kurdish refugees to an armed group opposing the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, news is now emerging that the group wants to use these individuals for a prisoner exchange with the Bashar al-Assad regime.

These nine asylum seekers, who are from the cities of Paveh and Sardasht, were arrested by Turkish police forces in a forest near Istanbul on August 20th of this year while trying to reach the European borders.

These individuals then identified themselves as Syrians out of fear of being returned to Iran, and according to reports, after a few days, Turkey handed them over to the "Free Syrian Army", an armed group opposed to the Bashar Assad regime.

Voice of America reported on Sunday, December 19, that it had learned through its sources that the Free Syrian Army wanted to use these individuals for a prisoner exchange with the Bashar al-Assad regime.

The names of these refugees are Bahman Shadrovan, Masoud Heydari, Saeed Ahmadi, Damavand Pakseresht, Afshar Rostami, Hedayat Rokhzadi, Arman Rashidi, Mobin Valdbeigi, and Fardin Darvishpour.

These people, along with 57 immigrants from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, were planning to smuggle themselves from Istanbul to Italy by ship, when they were arrested along the way.

Refugees from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region who had been handed over to the "Free Syrian Army" group were also released after about two weeks, thanks to the efforts of the regional government and the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to reports, the families of nine Iranian Kurdish refugees have been on strike in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran since December 13, demanding that the Turkish government investigate the fate of their children.

Source: Radio Farda