NRLS: Turkish occupation, mercenaries commit war crimes, violate international laws in Afrin

QAMISHLO

After the opening word of the International Forum on Ethnic Cleansing and Demographic Change in Afrin, the report was read by Rojava Center for Strategic Studies (NRLS) by a member of the Rojava Center for Strategic Studies Nizar Saleh.

The text of the report:

Since the beginning of this year, Turkish forces and their mercenary gangs have directly committed war crimes and terror acts in flagrant violation of international law, without any deterrent; specifically targeting civilians, infrastructure and services in the cities and countryside of Afrin through aerial bombardment and artillery, as well as  using of lethal weapons against a relatively small area crowded with civilians, including 400,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the war of Syrian geography, causing the martyrdom and injury of thousands of civilians, and forced the tens of thousands to displacement. After the Turkish forces were able to occupy large parts of Afrin, they followed a systematic policy of terrorizing civilians and forcing them either to flee or to assimilate in the new reality imposed by  Turkish occupation, racial character and radical Islamic radicalism and reactionary, as well as not allowing the displaced Kurds to return to their areas, but also resettled groups were also displaced from their areas to the displaced areas of Afrin, simultaneously, kidnappings, assassinations, arrests, extortion, the burning of fields and the confiscation of property and agricultural crops continued, as well as exposure of many citizens to enforced disappearances and torture. Moreover, the policy of cultural and historical genocide against the indigenous people of Afrin to clarify the main objective of ethnic cleansing and demographic change was committed against its people; all this happened in the midst of a suspicious international silence, as none of the international organizations concerned with human rights and international peace moved to prevent the inhabitants of the territory from being subjected to Turkish aggression and its mercenaries

Aggression on Afrin:

In 2018/1/20, Turkish forces and their radical fundamentalist militias launched a violent military operation against Afrin, the attacks continued for about two months despite the cease-fire on all Syrian territory of 2401 issued by the UN Security Council in (2018224) where the religious platforms were exploited brutally under a fatwa issued by the Supreme Islamic Syrian Council and the Presidency of Turkish Religious Affairs and by a resolution and direct support from the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, without regard to international laws and conventions. On March 18, 2018, the Turkish forces were able to enter the city of Afrin after forcing its population to flee for fear of committing crimes by the Turkish army and its foreign and local mercenaries, such as the Turkistan Islamic Party, Jabhet al-Nusra, Free Army, IS' gangs and others.

The Kurds of Afrin people have been exposed to brutal practices such as displacement and exclusion with a view to carrying out large-scale demographic changes; article 7 of the Rome Statute defined article 2, paragraph 2, as "Forcible deportation of persons forcibly removed from the area in which they are lawfully expelled or any other coercive act without justifications permitted by international law ".

At the beginning of the aggression, Erdogan announced through the media that the percentage of the Arab population in Afrin is 55% while the Kurds 35%. This means that the goal of demographic change is to displace 65% of the Kurds. (The indigenous inhabitants of the region), and at the same time announced that the Syrian refugees in the Turkish camps would be resettled. Articles 2,7,8 and 7, article 1 of the Rome Statute, considered forced displacement as a war crime, Article 8, paragraph 8 (b), of article 2 of article 8 states that the direct or indirect transfer by the occupying state of parts of its civilian population to the territory it occupies or the removal or transfer of all or part of the population of the occupied territory within these territories or outside. A serious violation of the laws and customs applicable to international armed conflicts, within the established scope of international law. Articles 49 and 85 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, 1949, and Articles 1 and 4 of Article 1 of Article 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 refer to the prohibition of the forcible transfer of persons or the forcible transfer of part of the population of the occupying state to the occupied territories

The Turkish occupation forces and their terrorist gangs are still continuing to put  pressure the remaining residents of Afrin to force them to leave their areas. For this purpose, torture and insults of civilians on charges of working in institutions of Democratic Autonomous Administration or the presence of relatives within the ranks of the resistance, and then demanded for large sums of money as a ransom for their release, and security checkpoints were spread in Afrin by various groups of mercenaries and terrorists that extort civilians and imposing large royalties on them.

All Kurdish civilians remaining in Afrin have severely suffered from Turkish state terrorism and their mercenary gangs from the policy of assassinating, arresting and kidnappings, as well as the burning, looting and seizure of homes and property. Many cases of raping and abduction of minors have been monitored, resulting in large waves of displacement of the remaining indigenous people. If these violations continue, Afrin will witness a dangerous demographic change that may continue for several years.

Cultural and historical genocide

Turkish forces also targeted schools, archaeological sites and places of worship. In addition to the Kurdish cultural symbols such as the Kawa al-Hadad monument at the entrance to the city of Afrin, 32 schools have been destroyed and some reports assure other 45 were destroyed as well. 318 schools, institutes and universities have been closed in Afrin, and more than 50,000 children are out of school without education, as well as 13 students were martyred, ending with the imposition of the occupation an educational curriculum  in Turkish and Arabic.

On January 26, 2018, the hill of Ain Dara archaeological dating back to the Neolithic era was bombed by Turkish occupation planes, despite the distance from the areas of engagement and the absence of any presence of military forces resisting there and from the sites that were targeted by rockets and missiles castle of al-Nabi Huri, archaeological sites near the village of Iska; the archaeological Rajo hill, Jandres hill, Deir Ballot hill all of which constitute a stone record that preserves the history of our ancestors; and the Church of the Shepherd was looted ,the tomb of Mar Maron and Julianus Church, dating back to the end of the 4th century CE, were destroyed by Turkish aircraft after the shelling of the archaeological site of Brad and the UNESCO World Heritage Site .As well as the destruction of dozens of shrines belonging to Yazidis and the children of Afrin in general who resisted the terrorist gangs, in addition to  stealing of dozens of artifacts and their transport and smuggling to Turkey and turned some schools to detention centers and torture of citizens, as well as raising the Turkish flags and changing the names of streets, regions and institutions to the names of Turkey, such as the launch of the name of Erdogan on a main square in the center of the city of Afrin, and the imposition of the veil on women and the establishment of Turkish cultural centers, all these and other acts promote ethnic cleansing against the Kurds.

Dozens of violations against civilians have been documented by Rojava Center for Strategic Studies - Afrin Branch and some other human rights organizations; all violations committed by the Turkish state during the 58 days documented by Rojava Center for Strategic Studies - Afrin Branch are found in the pamphlet at your hands."

(T/S)

ANHA