Opposition group to Bashar Assad ‘intends’ to use 9 Iranian refugees to exchange prisoners

Four months after Turkey’s government handed over 9 Iranian Kurdish refugees to an armed opposition group against Bashar Assad’s government in Syria, it is now reported that this group intends to use these individuals to exchange prisoners with the Assad regime.

These 9 refugees, who are from the cities of Paveh and Sardasht, were arrested on August 21 by Turkish police forces in one of the forests near Istanbul while attempting to reach European borders.

These individuals, fearing deportation to Iran, identified themselves as Syrian, and according to reports, Turkey handed them over to the “Free Syrian Army,” an armed opposition group against Bashar Assad’s government, after several days.

Voice of America reported on Sunday, December 19, that through its sources it learned that the “Free Syrian Army” intends to use these individuals to exchange prisoners with the Assad regime.

The names of these refugees are listed as Bahman Shadravan, Masoud Heidari, Said Ahmadi, Damanvand Paksarshit, Afshar Rostami, Hedayat Rokhzadi, Arman Rashidi, Mobin Valdbeygi, and Fardin Darvishpour.

These individuals, along with 57 migrants from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, intended to travel illegally by ship from Istanbul to Italy when they were arrested during their journey.

The migrants from the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, who had also been handed over to the “Free Syrian Army,” were released after approximately two weeks through the efforts of the Kurdistan Region government and Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

According to reports received, the families of the 9 Iranian Kurdish refugees have been staging a strike in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran since December 14, demanding that the Turkish government follow up on the fate of their children.

Source: Radio Farda