Lecturers : Turkey's essential policy toward people has not changed

QAMISHLO

The International Forum on Ethnic Cleansing and Demographic Change in Afrin continues. Following the second session, which focused on the military aspect of the ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin, the third session, which deals with the historical and cultural aspects of the cleansing, were the Dr. Jewad al-Kazimi heads the session and many lectures were delivered, including a lecture by Dr. Ahmed Sino and Dr. Elias Suleiman.

The lecture which was given by Dr. Ahmed Sino, who explained the history of Turkish politics and said,

"The Turkish state was established on the invasion and killing, and took from it a way to expand, and a consistent approach in its policy and behavior based on looting and destruction and massacres and forced displacement and genocide against the peoples, and considering that a kind of legitimate and good work or as a kind of jihad as it callas it.

He added "This line and approach has become clearer with the arrival of the federalists to power, which represents the policy of Turkification, which is based on melting all the components and peoples in the Turkish pot. This policy and strategy continued after the First World War until the present, the American ambassador in Turkey during the First World War in 1913-1916 Henry Moore wrote in his memoirs on the Turks, saying:

"They do not have what we call the fundamentals of civilized society. They did not have alphabets, no written codes, no works, no poets, no art, no architecture, they did not build cities, they never established a permanent state, they knew no laws except the law of the jungle. They have practically no agriculture and no industrial institutions, they are simply cavalry and invaders, and the basic concept of their success is to attack and pillage the people who were more civilized than them. "

Sino pointed out that the Europeans have called the Ottoman state the sick man of Europe, the weakness of the state and its problems that led to the intervention of the European countries in its internal affairs, what is known as the "Eastern question". The most important countries that intervened in the Eastern issue were Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

Sino named several examples of the ethnic cleansing of peoples practiced by the Turkish state, including the Armenian people, Sino said that "Turkish Interior Minister Talaat Pasha wrote to the State of Aleppo on  September 5- 1915 a letter which included the following: (You have been informed previously that the government by order of the Union of the Association and the Promotion decided to annihilate the Armenians who reside in Turkey fully, must end without hearing the voice of reprimand and without any exception for the presence of women and children and patients who have a bad condition, Sino pointed out  that the most shocking images of the state of Turkey's methods of killing, including the work of Dr. Mohamed Rashid, he was governor of Diyar Beker city who was named the executioner as well as the title of shoemaker because he was knocking the horseshoes at the legs of the victims, and also known as the skulls crushers and the crucifixion of the victims, and their new methods poisoning and dumping in the sea and cutting and exposing to experimentation, and the death toll of the genocide was estimated in this period about 1.5 million by the Turkish forces, or during their deportation marches.

As for the Assyrians, Syriacs and Yezidis, Sinu said, "They used swords and daggers to kill Assyrians and Syriacs, and they used the burning, as in the town of Kengar, and the cutting of heads, as in the Assyrian town of Salamas, the Turkish state committed a massacre in Adana, killing more than 30,000 Syriacs, another massacre took place in the Taurus Mountains, the Azzal Mountains, Mardin and Hakkari, in which more than 600,000 Assyrians and Syriacs were killed between 1914 and 1616.

He added ,"There was a massacre in the Urmia plain against them which more than 500,000 Syriac civilians were killed, "This massacre was known as Sefo massacres, due to the way were the Syriac who killed by the sword.

The Yazidi people have been associated with the Ottoman massacres against them for centuries, which amounted to more than 74 campaigns. "Mohammed Rashid Pasha led a campaign, in which Sinjar city was completely destroyed. Hafez Pasha led a military campaign in which more than 900 Yazidi were killed. And the sale of their men and women and children in the markets of Mosul and neighboring areas, and campaigns repeated in the same way until World War I. As a result, the Yezidis were displaced in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Germany and the rest of the European countries.

From  August 14, 2007 terrorist groups targeted the Yezidi in Iraq, a large attack ended  the lives of 800 Yazidi people, and in 2014 after the fall of the city of Mosul by IS organization, Turkey has become a major corridor to cross the terrorists to Iraq and Syria, Sinjar "Şangal" witnessed to a large attack by terrorist IS which killed, captivated and abducted thousands of the Yazidi people.

As for the Kurdish people, Sino said, "After the revolution of 1925, the Turkish state buried more than 2,000 women, children and old people alive. The federalists committed a new massacre in the same period after they took power against the Kurds, killing more than 500,000 Kurds."

Sino confirmed that the death toll in the massacre of Zilan is 47 thousand Kurds.

During the fighting between the Turkish state and the Kurds between the two world wars, about 400,000 Kurds were killed and some 700,000 Kurds were deported.

In 1978, 3856 Kurds were killed after Marash massacre in eight months. In the 1980 coup, the Turkish state arrested 10790 Kurds. In 1983, 60,000 Kurds were arrested.

As for the ethnic and demographic cleansing in Afrin, Sino noted that the Turkish state continues to pursue the policy of invasion, denial, extermination, and ethnic cleansing, even demographically, to the same policy of federalists and Kamalists to the present time. This intellectual and political mentality and field practices reflect and demonstrate the nature and reality of the Turkish state in Afrin.

In the course of his speech he spoke about the violations committed by Turkey in Afrin from the bombing of aircraft, rocket and heavy artillery attacks from 1/2/2018 to 28/2/2018. 

As for the demographic change in Afrin, Sino said

"The approach of invasion and murder related to genocide, ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin continued as an approach of the Turkish state, to prevent any democratic and liberal entity in Syria and the region and to settle loyalists in the homes of the people. After five days of the Turkish bombing forced displacing in Afrin from 23 to 25 January of 12000 civilians and on the 24 of the same month, the village of Jalame was evacuated completely from its people and forcibly displaced the people from the vicinity of Afrin and the number reached more than 200,000 thousand displaced. Fifteen days later, 50 families were transferred from al-Ghouta to Afrin, 15 families belonging to the factions settled in the village of Qatima and the housing of other families in a number of housing units in Afrin, 80 new families have been replaced from the villages of Homs and Hama in the Khirbet Sharan area and 200 families from the southern suburbs of Damascus. Al-Hamzat gangs forces the villagers of Khilaka to leave their homes, to settle 2000 families of Doma of Syria.

He added: "From the date of 18/3/2018 to May, more than 3,295 civilians were kidnapped under false pretexts and more than 30 women were subjected to kidnapping and assault. In addition to the demographic change, the Turkish state is working to change the cultural and national identity and to cultivate a culture of invasion and killing, so it bombs archeological sites, shrines and practices violations, for example, in the shrine of Sheikh Zeid in al-Zaidiyah Neighborhood, which was completely looted and vandalized by extremist Islamic factions. The Turkish Air Force, destroyed Nuri Dersmi Shrine, Zeart Hanan Mosque, Khatona Fekhra Shrine and Lalesh Dome completely , and the shrine of Sheikh Barakat which is considered by the Yazidi people and  the Druze as shrine of one of their sheikhs, the shrine of Sheikh Abdul Rahman in faqira village and Sultan Baabroche Shrine north of Maabtali town, which is of Alawites religious community , the destruction of the church of Alibiski and the bombing of the tomb of the Alawite cleric Yagmur Dada near Aleppo. An arc of a temple was looted in Kimar village, in Sherawa district, with two peacocks facing it, interspersed with a symbol of the sun at Mount Lilon. (5). They also targeted the church of Julianos by shelling, destruction and theft. 16,000 archaeological pieces, mostly in the Afrin region, were looted. The shrine of Avesta was destroyed in Afrin city on 12/8/2018 and the Turkish Air Force bombed the ancient archaeological sites. The archaeological site in Ain Dara, the location of Brad, Nabi Hori castle, and Deir  Meshmash, the ancient hill of Janders, the Salahuddin Mosque, the tomb of Saint Maron and the statue of Kawa Haddad were destroyed."

This means that the Turkish state wants to remove the educational culture of Afrin people whatever different their cultural and religious diversity is: the Alawites, Druze, Kurds and Yazidi people, including Christians of Syriac and planting a new culture which is the culture of invasion and denial that the Ottoman Empire was built on,  which means that it is continuing in the plan of demographic change to sever the cultural, religious and national links between the residents of Afrin region. The Turkish state and its factions have also changed the names of the public squares and streets in Afrin and its suburbs to impose their culture and Turkification policy in the region, they burned forests and cut down olive trees. In the village of Hamam, the factions uprooted 1500 olive trees, planted more than 25,000 trees on the Turkish side, burned more than 1,000 trees in the village of Khozina Tahtani, set fire to 2500 trees in Adama village and ordered 1500 Syrian pounds for each olive tree in the plains for non-residents in exchange for allowing their relatives or those who wish to care for them.

Conclusion

Through research and study, we have found some conclusions that can be considered as clear results for the follower and the observer as follows:

1. There is no change in the Turkish State's policy, in essence, against the peoples of the region, both inside and outside the state, especially in the region. This was manifested through the ethnic cleansing of Armenians, Kurds, Syrians and Yezidis. It continues to deny the rights of these peoples, and continues to interfere and threaten the lands of neighboring countries such as Syria and Iraq (Kirkuk and Afrin) and interfere in its internal affairs on the pretext of its national security.

2. Despite the passing of a century of ethnic genocide, no international consensus has been adopted for political reasons concerning the interests of these countries with the Turkish State, such as Germany, France, Britain and even the United States of America.

3. The Turkish State does not recognize all massacres committed against Armenians, Syriacs, Arabs, Kurds, Bulgarians and Greeks before the United Nations, the General Assembly and other international and human rights organizations. For reasons of international condemnation and an apology resulting in obligations such as compensation and recognition of rights.

4 - Emptying entire areas of the demographic population in northern Kurdistan and the removal of entire cities, for example Dersim and the establishment of a new city for the settlers of Tunceli, and this is what happened to the Armenians, Syriacs and Assyrians in their cities and towns.

5. The ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Kurdistan, Mesopotamia and the Middle East have damaged the social fabric of these peoples and have given rise to some mistrust of the international community, millions of them have been turned into refugees in Europe and the world and Afrin as a model.

6. The Arab and Islamic world has not shown a clear attitude towards the genocide and demographic change towards the peoples of the regions, especially in the context of the Organization of the Islamic Conference for political and perhaps religious reasons.

7. For centuries, the policy of the political-religious approach of the Turkish state has been pursued for the present through the parties and organizations to deceive the peoples of the region and the entire Muslim world for political and strategic reasons.

8. The Turkish state has pursued the policy of playing on international contradictions, especially between Russia and China, on the one hand, and the United States and the European Union on the other, to the present day, as if the issue of the East has left its effects and shadows on state policy to this day. In an attempt to blackmail both sides.

9. The weakness of the role of the United Nations, the Security Council, the General Assembly, all affiliated organizations, all civil rights organizations, and even the International Court of Justice, and their ineffectiveness in any political, humanitarian or human decision to save peoples from real disasters as well as the ethnic and demographic changes that have taken place against Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, Syriacs and others, as happened recently in Sinjar, Afrin and in Syria in general.

10. Despite Turkey's policy of ethnic cleansing and demographic change two centuries ago, it has not been able to eradicate the resistance of the peoples of the region and its desire for liberation and independence.

In the lecture of the Doctor in the Antiquities Suleiman Elias, he noted:

The results of the Turkish invasion and occupation of Afrin

From the archaeological point of view

"The consequences of the war in Syria are catastrophic, affecting all forms of life (humans, nature, the environment), as well as cultural heritage and history.

"The policies of subjugation and invasion of territories and the crimes of ethnic cleansing in the culture of war do not end. The war is merciless and does not satisfy less than the destruction of historical identity, the legitimization of despicable acts, the destruction and dismantling of societies on the heads of their sons and cut the basic root of peoples, separated it from the original fabric in which they grew up."

The recent example of the obliteration and destruction of the cultural and historical identity of peoples is the invasion and occupation of the territory of Afrin by the Turkish invasion, which led to the destruction and looting of monuments listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List,

Berad is located in the north of Syria, it is one of the forgotten cities with a population of about 500. It is located in south of Afrin and 40 km north of Aleppo. It dates back to the Byzantine period and became very important in 2004 when the Maronite Diocese of Aleppo proved the existence of the tomb of Saint Maron, patron of the Maronite Church, and considered it a place for pilgrimage.

Berad also has the Galianos Church, named after the Syrian architect Galianos, who built it on the ruins of a second-century pagan temple and is the second largest church in northern Syria. The small church built in the form of an annex was added from the north to Galianos church in 407-420 AD the tomb of the famous monk (Mar Maroun) was discovered according to archaeological data at the site.

As part of the systematic targeting by the Turkish occupation forces of Syrian archaeological and religious sites, the Turkish planes bombed the site of Berad, who has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list since 2011. The bombing destroyed many buildings Including the tomb of St. Maron and Galiannos, one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. It was built at the end of the fourth century AD.

Ain Dara is an archeological site located 5 km south of the city of Afrin. It is one of the most important archaeological sites. This importance lies in the structure of the temple which dates back to the period (1200-740 BC). North of ancient Syria, the temple was dedicated to the worship of the gods "Ishtar", and the Lord of the weather "Heded", according to archaeological finds.

The temple was subjected to heavy shelling by Turkish occupation planes; the site was almost completely destroyed.

An ancient city in Afrin, one of the most important cities in the Greek Hellenistic era, was occupied by the Romans in 64 BC. The walls of the Byzantine Empire were renovated by Justinian and attacked by the first Kesra in 540 AD, and by the Muslims in 637 CE, led by Ayad Ben Ghanem. then Noureddine Zanki liberated it from the Europeans , and built its castle, and renewed fortifications and many of its facilities.

The city is surrounded by a wall, and in the middle of this wall is a circular runway and acting platform. In the north of this theater there is a large church (Basilica) and a small one. On the western side are the tombs, and the Tetrabel arch is located south of the city walls.

The Turkish occupation attacked this important site and destroyed it through the cliff, then built military fortifications on the site of the archaeological site, and also carried out illegal excavations, including the use of detectors, which led to the destruction of most of the archaeological buildings at the site, after the Turkish occupation of Afrin.

The International Forum on Ethnic Cleansing and Demographic Change in Afrin continues with the third session, which revolves around the historical aspect of ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin.

A.H

ANHA