Aggression on Afrin is a culturally, historically and economically integrated crime

QAMISHLO

The second day of the International Forum on Ethnic Cleansing and Demographic Change in Afrin included three sessions on the military, historical and economic axes.

After delivering the two lectures, the discussion opened before the audience, the most prominent discussions included the military axis and that the attack on Afrin caused a humanitarian disaster. There are tens of thousands of people in the camps in the areas of al-Shahba, but the doctors are very few and with the coming of the winter, the suffering of the people of Afrin increased, the people of Afrin need help. Moreover, that the Syrian regime prevents the arrival of aid to the children of Afrin residing in the areas of al-Shahba.

In the beginning, the policy of Arabization was practiced in Afrin, and now, the policy of Turkification was practiced against the people of Afrin. In most of the Kurdish cities, the people were expelled from them and other people settled during the Baath regime, which ruled the region for more than half a century. The same policy practiced in Afrin, where the residents of Daraa, Damascus countryside and Homs were brought and settled in the homes of the people of Afrin.

The discussions indicated that the population of Afrin was about 600 thousand people according to statistics in 2014-2015, and more than half are residing now in the areas of al-Shahba as a result of the Turkish aggression.

Turkey continues its criminal legacy against the peoples of the region

The discussions of the second session, which dealt with the military aspect of the ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin, explained that for more than a hundred years the peoples of the region have been torn apart and the Kurds have been persecuted more than others. The Kurdish people are still being torn apart and the best example of this is what is happening now in Afrin by the Turkish occupation. The speeches pointed out that Turkey is still continuing its criminal legacy of the peoples and what is happening now in Afrin is the best proof of that.

The speeches pointed out that NATO is defending its allies, especially Turkey, and Turkey is destroying Afrin and changing its demographics. Turkey is doing what IS did not do in the areas it occupied.

The discussions confirmed that the Kurds fought IS which was a threat to the whole world and the Turkish state took advantage of this opportunity and launched an attack on Afrin.

The discussions pointed out that Turkey launched in one day attacks with 72 aircrafts on the villages, towns, areas and the center of Afrin, and the Turkish aggression resulted in losing more than 570 civilians to their lives, mostly children and women in addition to wounding more than 1,570 others, and stressed the use of Turkey chlore gas prohibited internationally.

The historical and cultural aspect of the process of ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin

The discussions during the historic and cultural session showed that the Turkish state was founded on the invasion and killing, and took from them a way to expand.

The discussions on the historic and cultural axes explained that one of the most prominent and the most important reasons for the Turkish aggression on Afrin is to commit a cultural genocide against the Kurds and the best evidence of this is the bombing of the Turkish occupation at the beginning of its aggression the archaeological sites. And secondly targeting civilians with various types of weapons and even internationally prohibited as chlorine gas to displace civilians.

The discussions also dealt with the aftermath of the occupation of Afrin, noting that the Turkish occupation practiced the most repressive methods against the people of Afrin; kidnapping, threatening, demanding ransoms and even raping practices with the aim of displacing the remaining Afrin's civilians who remained in the canton after the occupation.

The economic side of ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin

For the third session, which focused on the economic aspect of the process of ethnic cleansing and demographic change in Afrin, the discussion focused on the fact that Turkey targeted the economy of the society founded by Afrin people under the Democratic Autonomous Administration.

The discussions made clear that Afrin's economy has revived significantly in the last five years, and Afrin's exports of olive oil alone reached 150 million dollars a year, not to mention the rest of the sectors.

The discussions in the economic session pointed out that the direct aim of the Turkish aggression on Afrin was a systematic targeting of the economy of the province through bombing, destroying, looting and thieving, in an attempt to strike the viability of the Kurdish people on their land in Afrin.

A.H

ANHA