What is happening inside Afrin is genocide, Kurdish parties must unite its ranks to confront it

This came in a written statement issued by 94 intellectuals, politicians, human rights and legal cadres, and academicians to the public opinion.

Statement text:

 “The occupation of Afrin entered the third year without a specific horizon for the end of the catastrophe that it has suffered, and a date for the return of its indigenous people to their homes. Hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people are still dispersed in displacement camps, villages and towns of al-Shahba, Aleppo and other Syrian regions, and the restrictions on those who remain from Afrin are still being restricted and pushed them out their homes, Ankara has rewarded the mercenary factions that fought with them by looting and stealing Afrin and practicing all their atrocities in it. Today, Afrin has become a region outside of all laws and customs governed by the gang behavior of mobile killing groups that often engage in fighting among themselves over the sharing of methods and spoils according to the logic.

Our family’s faint voices from Afrin say that they have become hostages in their homes and villages, and they are appealing to the rest of the human conscience to save life in the lowest form. What happens is genocide and an end to existence, as all forms of violations and abuses are practiced against them, such as murder, kidnapping, and arbitrary detention the number of security headquarters and private detention centers and what happens in them while concealing many infringements on property, honors and individuals, Today, the indigenous people of Afrin no longer believe in themselves walking in the streets or in their homes, as it continues unabated to take over homes and expel their owners from them.  Today, the indigenous people of Afrin no longer believe in themselves walking in the streets or in their homes, as it continues unabated to take over homes and expel their owners from them.

In light of the occupation, it is normal to see corpse is thrown in wilderness, or woman or man had been slaughtered, homes are stormed and looted and killing its owners, in Afrin canton, settlers of sheep herdsmen scream at the old landowner: “The land has become ours and you have to leave. Where the elderly martyred, like others had been killed in this way

What is happening in Afrin is a cultural genocide, as work continues to change the cultural and social identity of the region via Turkification policy by imposing the Turkish language and different beliefs, customs and traditions, imposing Islam with its brotherhood approach and changing educational curricula, violations included the destruction of religious shrines and Islamic and Yazidi cemeteries for atheism and atonement, while these shrines were completely stolen.

Demographic change is not a result of aggression and occupation, but rather one of its most important goals. What is required is to evacuate the region from its Kurdish people by displacing them, and this has been initiated during the aggression and its escalation by raising the Turkish flag on public institutions and facilities, and declaring the occupation, and day after day the demographic structure changes by settling more settlers, where they settled in the homes of the indigenous people, who were forcibly displaced, and those who remain in his house are obliged to pay rent to the militants.

Turkish policy still continues such as impoverishment, intentional starvation through the imposition of royalties and unjust fines, the confiscation of property and the uprooting of olive trees and the unjust reforestation of forests and their burning, and the water of Maidakani Dam was stolen by channel diversion to Hatay State.

Ankara's preparation for the aggression was not limited to the military side, but also included the preparation of a pre-map of the ruins and hills in which there may be archaeological finds. In light of the occupation, the process of excavating and bulldozing the land continues in dozens of sites, and the artifacts were looted and taken to Turkey to be sold, in an attempt to obliterate the historical and cultural identity of the region.

Afrin is an issue that has more than one dimension, the first of which is the Kurdish national dimension, and this is what directly and historical responsibility is imposed on the Kurds today represented by parties, forces and figures of heavy weight, and they are required to agree and arrange the internal house to confront the campaign of mass and systematic extermination, and to heal the wound of Afrin bleeding for more than two years.

We, the undersigned, intellectuals and cadres, on behalf of ourselves and on behalf of thousands of voices who have communicated with us from our families inside of Afrin, forced displaced people in camps, and Syrian cities. Believing that the issue of Afrin determines the fate of all Kurds in their present and future and is at the same time as a part and parcel of the Kurdish issue within the Syrian solution process. We strongly join in the calling of the SDF, on the political forces to unite the ranks, bypassing attitudes of courtesy and blessing, and taking full responsibility before the Kurdish society.

Today, it's directly asked from all Kurdish political forces, intellectuals, and educated cadres with different intellectual orientations, in front of the people inside Afrin and in displacement camps and areas, to take a firm stance and get out of the circle of theoretical talk, answer the direct question of the fate of the people of Afrin, and finding ways to end the occupation and stop the violations practiced against them. That is their essential mission, as long as they consider themselves representatives of the issue of the Kurdish people, and no form of compromise or justifications for procrastination is accepted.

We also head to the international sponsoring parties to make the issue of Afrin and other occupied areas a top priority and formulate a clear-cut work program and road map to end the entire Turkish occupation, ensure the dignified return of the forcibly displaced, clarify the fate of thousands of missing persons, work to liberate the detainees, bring the perpetrators of violations before justice, and offer just compensation to the families of the victims.

Signatories:

Dr. Abdullah Mohamed – Doctor at the University of Nantes

Abdullah Shkaki – Writer and Researcher in History

Abdeen Mustafa – Fine Artist

Dr. Abdulqader Hasco – Doctor

Abdulrahman Haji Othman – Director of the Tirej Afrin Website

Prof. Dr. Adnan Mamed Ibish – Professor – PhD in Mathematics

Ahmed Hasan Akash – Journalist

Ahmed Kitma – Journalist

Ahmed Youssef – Academician – PhD in Economic Development

Akhin Walat – Poet

Dr. Akram Nassan – Emergency Medicine Doctor

Ali Iso – Director of Izdina Media and Juridical Foundation

Amina Ala – Lawyer

Amina Misto – Journalist

Angela Rasho – Pharmacist

Aslan Mamo – Fine Artist

Badredin Bilal – Judge and Adviser

Brivan Hamoush – Fine artist

Chalang Omar – Academician and Economic Researcher

Dildar Mitani – Researcher and Notary of Digital Archives

Dr. Faek Manla Ali – Academician – PhD in Economics

Dr. Fakhry Abdo – Doctor

Dr. Farhad Nasan – Doctor

Firas Mahmoud – Theater Actor

Gulê Ghazal – Engineer

Gulistan Sido – Academician – Director of the Relations Office at Rojava University

Haider Omar – Critic and Researcher of Kurdish Folklore Literature

Hamrin Habash – Activist in Documentation and Translation

Hanif Hamo – Fine Artist

Hevin Haso – Poet

Hikmat Jamil – Singer and Musician

Hozan Abdo – Film Director

Hozan Afrini – Writer and Journalist

Hussein Habash – Poet

Hussein Norlo Naasu – Lawyer and Politician

Ibrahim Sheikho – Spokesman of the Human Rights Organization in Afrin

Idris Mamed – Novelist

Imad Sheikh Hasan – Attorney – Lekolin Center for Legal Studies and Research

Jamil Rashid – Political Writer and Journalist

Kamal Ahmed – Writer and Researcher

Dr. Kamal Sido – Middle East official for the Defense of Endangered Peoples Organization

Kamiran Ali – Attorney

Khalil Khamgin – Singer and Musician

Layla Al-Turk – Antiquities Restorer

Maha Hasan – Writer

Mahmoud Chaqmaqi – Writer and Cinematographer

Mahmoud Kalash – Researcher in Yazidi Religion Affairs

Mamdouh Tobal – Engineer

Dr. Mamed Jimou – Academician – PhD in Eastern Languages

Manan Jaafar – Lecturer at Rojava University

Marwa Brim – Writer and Poet

Marwan Barakat – Researcher and Novelist

Mitra Youssef – Singer

Mohamed Belco – Musician

Mohamed Blou – Journalist

Mohamed Habash – Journalist

Mohamed Hamo – Writer and Poet

Mohamed Khalil – Retired Chemical Engineer

Mohamed Sharif – Media Presenter

Mohamed Zadeh – Poet

Mohamed Zeno – Writer – PhD in Sociology

Mohyadin Arslan – Theater and Film Director

Mustafa Shan Nabo – Co-President of the Yazidi Union in Afrin

Newroz Rasho – Journalist

Nihad Al-Turk – Fine Artist

Dr. Nouristan Memo – Academician – PhD in Chemistry

Dr. Nuri Sheikh Qanbar – Doctor

Pir Rustom – Writer

Pir Shamo – Social Researcher in Yezidi Affairs

Rawan Gumi – Master of Archeology

Refat Zuhair Al Amo – Bachelor in Political Science and International Relations

Rima Barakat – Lawyer

Robar Ibish – Legalistic

Rohan Mustafa – Academician – Co-Presidency of Rojava University

Rokan Akash – Singer

Dr. Sabri Hasan – University Professor

Salah Bayram – Singer

Salah Sino – Specialized in Archaeology and Museums

Salah Youssef – Poet

Salam Hussein – Writer

Sheikho Blou – Legalistic

Dr. Sido Hamo – Doctor

Tammuz Shamali – Writer

Tara Ibo – Writer and Poet

Walat Afrini – Journalist and Writer

Walid Bakr – Kurdish Language Researcher

Youssef Bakr – Fine Artist

Zakaria Afreeni – Poet

Zinar Ala – Journalist

The name is hidden because he is inside Afrin

The name is hidden because he is inside Afrin

The name is hidden because he is inside Afrin

The name is hidden because he is inside Afrin

The name is hidden because she is inside Afrin

T/S

ANHA