Çeleng Omer, Ghassan al-Yousef: Afrin’s Economic development was incentive for its people to cling to land

QAMISHLO

The proceedings of the International Forum on Ethnic Cleansing and Demographic Change continue in Afrin. After the second session, which focused on the military aspect of ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin, the third session dealing with the economic aspect of ethnic cleansing began. The session was managed by Dr. Mohamed Shawqi Mohammed, and lectures were given by Mr Çeleng Omer, and Dr. Ghassan al-Yusuf.

Dr. Çeleng Omer, a Master of Economics and a former lecturer at the University of Afrin, said

  "The Syrian crisis, during the years of the war, has shown that there is no longer a Syrian economy, but rather" economies "in Syria. The end of the totalitarian control of the regime militarily and politically during the years of the crisis has also taken on the economy and new economic systems have emerged. The role of government’s economic institutions and the laws governing labor and production, as opposed to the emergence of the economies of parties and non-governmental actors, the shadow economy and war and its activities.

Since 2012, while the areas that have not gone beyond the control of the Syrian regime have maintained the economic infrastructure, which is accompanied by low standard of living and the decline in the quality of public services and the absence of many times in addition to the escape of investors,

The areas under the control of the armed groups were linked to the economy of the neighboring countries, characterized by chaos and the collapse of the economic structures associated with the spread of theft and dismantlement of factories and the deterioration of the state of living fueled by the dominance of merchants of war and weapons and the absence of the authority of any law.

The Kurdish regions of Rojava enjoyed a fairly healthy economic situation, benefiting from the state of safety and stability and the existence of a reference authority that regulates all aspects of life and enjoys the credibility and confidence of Democratic Autonomous Administration and its institutions. Not only for its sons and daughters, but also for many Syrians fleeing from the hell of war .

In Afrin, since 2012, the region has been able to achieve important economic steps and its own efforts to improve the living and service conditions and start economic projects that solve, in part, some problems such as unemployment, migration, weak infrastructure, market instability and lack of economic projects.

This model requires that attention be paid to cooperative action and to the promotion of the partnership between the basic economic works (general - private - joint) as an operational engine of the social economy and as a basic component, and to create the appropriate conditions for it by establishing the complementary relationship between the tripartite economy, society and the environment. To profit as the sole objective of economic activity, but aims to meet the needs of society through the use of natural and human autonomous resources.

Omar mentioned the natural, human and service resources in Afrin. He also talked about Afrin's economy before and after 2011. He referred to the bodies that were formed under the Democratic  Autonomous Administration, which contributed to employing thousands of workers with higher wages and salaries than in other Syrian regions.

Omar said "the Democratic Autonomous Administration through its various bodies and departments have contributed to a great extent by providing the necessary ground for the growth and development of various economic sectors, whether directly intervening in securing and providing the necessary infrastructure services and the management of some sectors or through the establishment of mechanisms of supervision and guidance to serve the economic objective by providing the regulatory infrastructure for the economy, where thousands of economic projects have been established over the past five years, a stable and secure environment has transformed the area into an attractive area for investment, capital and manpower, despite the attacks of the Salifist groups and the siege imposed on the region, they were able to develop their own economy in different sectors, which positively affected the standard of living of the population as a result of the rise in the average income of the family significantly.

Omar said "The overall economic development that Afrin has witnessed over the last five years has been a cornerstone of the people's clinging to its land. The broad economic base, diversification and expansion of production in various sectors, not to mention the regulatory role and supervision, as well as the provision of an appropriate environment for the work and production practiced by Autonomous Administration, all of which provided many job opportunities and good incomes for the population and afforded them the possibility of ensuring their adequacy for a decent, stable and secure life, consistent with the conscious and civilized social characteristic, this economic reality and at the same time was the main artery of the period of prosperity that Afrin experienced during the past five years. It was the direct aim of the Turkish occupation and its affiliates. In its war against Afrin, the Turkish state, through its army and armed groups, systematically targeted the canton's economy through bombing, destruction, looting and theft."

Dr. Ghassan Al-Yousef, and the co-chair of Deir ez-Zor Civil Council, spoke about Afrin's economy and the economic importance of the region. He elaborated on the nature of Afrin canton and the motives and ambitions of the Turkish occupation.

He pointed out that after the study of the search and diagnosis and knowledge of the bad situation reached by the region of Afrin as a result of policies of ethnic cleansing and sectarian and demographic change and the seriousness of the social situation in general and the economic in particular, this does not mean that we cannot do something, to take effective steps against the Turkish scheme.

Here are some of the steps that can be started as recommendations for this study:

1. In each European country (if possible) it is necessary to establish funds for material aid or a rescue fund to raise funds, donations to the people of Afrin located in the camps as a form of material financing while paving the way for subsequent solutions.

2 - It is necessary to establish an official body or organization to document all the violations of the ethnic and sectarian cleansing and demographic change that have occurred so far in the region of Afrin headed by academics who have the ability to communicate and master the languages ​​to prepare the necessary reports and researches as pressure papers on the international community and its organizations for what happens in Afrin.

3. All students who have been displaced to other cities must be encouraged to pursue their studies to alleviate the decline in the HDI(Human Development Index )of the Region.

4. All those who remained in the Afrin region of the indigenous people must try to achieve self-sufficiency from their agricultural lands as a means of confronting ethnic and sectarian cleansing and demographic change.

5. Finally, we must stand firmly in the face of all ethnic and sectarian cleansing and demographic change.

In the end, both Çeleng Omer  and Ghassan al-Yousef explained that the only way to restore the national identity as it was in the Afrin region must be part of the existence of a national project on all Syrian territory that can be started and implemented to achieve security and stability for all Syrian social components.

A.H

ANHA