In Afrin, Turkish occupation, its mercenaries’ mask disappeared-5

Has Erdogan succeeded in changing the demographic of Afrin?

BASIL RASHID –SALEH IBO/AL_SHAHBA

Kawa al-Hadad's statue symbolizes the triumph of good over evil, the beginning of the era of freedom for the Kurdish people and the peoples of the Mesopotamia area where mercenary people under Turkish occupation army's command have destroyed it ,the only goal of the Turkish occupation state is to hit the democratic project in North Syria starting from Afrin

Why is Afrin?

This area, located in the far north-west of Syria, which borders Turkey on two sides, has become during the period of the Syrian crisis, a relatively stable area and a commercial center, located between the areas occupied by the Turkish occupation in the northern countryside of Aleppo and the western countryside of Aleppo and Idlib, and thus constituted a military, and political and military target over the past seven years. Afrin city has been exposed to several attacks by Turkey's mercenary gangs since 2012, but these attacks have failed over and over again, and over time Afrin has become more economically and militarily powerful, in addition to the cohesion of the social fabric and the organization of the people in Afrin, and after the declaration of Autonomous Administration and the application of the democratic nation and then federalism in North Syria, it has drew the attention of the government of the Justice and Development Party and the Nationalist Movement Party,  escalating its threatening tone against Afrin.

The Turkish threats were not new, but what drew attention was Erdogan's frank statement about the proportion of Kurds and Arabs in Afrin. Erdogan said on 17-11-2017 during a meeting of his party's leadership, two months before the attack that "the Arabs make up 50% But many of the leaders of the mercenary factions repeated what Erdogan said of clear statements aimed at demographic change before launching aggression and occupation.

The fact of the Arab presence in Afrin city

The ancient name of  Afrin canton is Çiyayî Kurmênc. Since all its inhabitants were Kurds, it was called Kurdax during the Ottoman rule. This name is mentioned in many Ottoman documents. After the coming of the French Mandate to the eastern Mediterranean and Syria, Çiyayî Kurmênc's area was divided into two parts, the first remained under the authority of France in Syria, while the second was attached toTurkey.

According to unofficial statistics, the population of the Afrin region is estimated at 800,000, of which 9,000 are Arab i.e. less than 2% of the population of Afrin. The majority of the Arabs in Afrin are residents of Iskenderun which is occupied by Turkey, where a number of Arab residents were displaced to Afrin in 1938.

However, the Arab presence increased after the Agrarian Reform Law promulgated by the Government of Unity between Syria and Egypt under the leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser. Thousands of hectares of agricultural land were expropriated in Afrin and other Kurdish areas in Syria, and distributed to Arab families particularly fertile land located on the banks of Afrin River to Arab families arriving in Afrin, until the Arab presence in Afrin reached an estimated 12% until 1998.

How did the occupation target the culture and people of Afrin?

The destruction of Kawa al-Hadad's statue(Kawa the Blacksmith) was not the first to target Kurdish symbols and culture in Afrin canton. With Turkish aggression, Turkish and Arab media focused on showing the Turkish and Arab names of the villages and areas in Afrin. The aim was to legitimize their invasion and obliterate the Kurdish names, in addition, the mercenaries have changed the names of squares and streets to Arabic names with Turkish symbols, in preparation for the imposition of Turkifacation policy in the canton through several means, including education and dissemination of Turkish language and flags.

The Turkish occupation, through its agreement with Russia, has brought thousands of displaced people from the Syrian regions (Gauta, Doma, Babila, Homs, Idlib, Daraa and other areas) to Afrin. According to informed sources, the census of these settlers within Afrin exceeded 50% In addition to building a special camp for some of the displaced people not directly associated with Turkey in order to control them and trade in their cause, in addition to Erdogan showing himself a hero who returned the Syrian refugees to their homeland.

A girl (N-A) at her twenties, living in al-Mahmudiya neighborhood in Afrin city who was not able to flee from Afrin city says,  "Afrin has changed a lot, although the popular alleys in Mahmudiya neighborhood are inhabited by the indigenous people, but several strange families have lived in homes which owner have been displaced. Everything has changed, dress and the population, even the language spoken on the street has become Arabic or Turkish, the identity of Afrin faces decay.” This girl did not go out four months ago out of home only rarely and the first exit was in a demonstration organized by local people against the practices of mercenaries in the beginning of April, despite that, she believes that Afrin's liberation will be soon and the city will return to its bright colors. "

The purpose is targeting the culture

The workers in the cultural side in Afrin said " The Kurdish heritage and culture was being deliberately targeted by Turkish sate, it is only targeting the Kurdish presence by itself, says Hanan Sido, a member of the Culture and Art Council in Afrin canton "We all know that culture is the identity and existence of the people, when the enemy aims to eradicate its culture because culture means existence, and after the Turkish occupation of Afrin canton, they denied the Kurdish language and Kurdish clothing."

Turkish pressure for voluntary displacement

According to various sources, hundreds of Afrani families who had returned to Afrin after the Turkish occupation, left again, and during the month of April only, cases of escape for 115 Kurdish families from Afrin as a result of violations of the occupation state and its mercenaries were recorded. In this regard, says Ibish Aswad, who arrived in Manbij city after passing through the areas occupied by Turkey and of course after paying the bribe required to be smuggled with his family say "I return to Afrin after the occupation because many of my friends said, "Afrin is fine and you have to go back." After entering Afrin through Kimar village I noticed that everything changed, faces, clothes, language, actions and the way the militants look at us. ", Aswad who had returned home in the city deciding to reopen his shop in Souq al-Hall (vegetables market), but after his stay for two weeks, he was kidnapped and was released after paying a bribe to a mercenary, here, he felt that life was impossible in Afrin, but he insisted on staying and completing his life in his city. The pressure and the charges increased more and more, and Aswad began to think about going out of Afrin city one month after his return.

This is a case of hundreds of other cases, which are exposed to the people of Afrin in order to force them to emigrate voluntarily, and to leave their homes to settlers and mercenaries. Mercenaries prevent people from villages far from the city centers and adjacent to the Turkish-Syrian border from returning to their homes. , Including the case of the people of the village of Qorta, which Turkish occupation army prevented its people to return it , and even forced the villagers to sign a paper written in Turkish without knowing its content.

Turkish occupation's practices in Afrin are not the first of its kind, but preceded by egregious violations against the Kurds who are existing in the areas of al-Bab and Jarablus and Azaz through arbitrary arrests and confiscation of property and forced the Kurds to migrate from the region where the Kurds were previously massacred by IS.

This cultural genocide must be delivered to the special courts

Lawyer Mohammed Jamil stressed that the Turkish occupation practices all policies of violation and racial discrimination against Afrin people. He continued by saying that "the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries after they occupied Afrin and to this day practice policies of racial discrimination and cultural melting, as well as violations that violate all international laws and conventions."

In the course of these battles, the Turkish occupation army committed war crimes against humanity, which target the dignity and identity of an element, namely, the identity, language and culture of the Kurdish people. "Human rights organizations and human rights activists must monitor and document such violations and their delivery to the special courts. "

The chapters of demographic change in Syria

The demographic change is not new in Syria. The first of its chapters began in al-Qusayr  city in the countryside of Homs in 2013, in which the regime forces forced the mercenary gangs and their families to leave the city. The demographic change in other areas such as Zabadani and other areas continued as a result of the absolute power and arms of both parties to the conflict in Syria.

But with the Russian military intervention in the Syrian crisis, imposing new equations and building tactical relations with Turkey, the demographic change has assumed a new status and is in view of the whole world according to official agreements involving the pivotal countries in the Syrian crisis. The obvious example is equation (Afrin –al-Gouta)- and continuation of this series until the completion of control of the regime and allied forces on most of the Syrian regions, and the gathering of opponents of the regime in the border.

(T/S)

ANHA