Yaser Shohan: breaching antiquities is war crime
Syrian antiquarian Yaser Shohan has indicated that violations on historical sites in North Eastern Syria is a war crime, and a crime against the human heritage, and Turkey spares no efforts to eradicate culture of peoples in North Eastern Syria via robbing, looting and demolishing it's cultural milestones, confirming that awareness by people would deter Erdogan ambitions to eradicate the culture of the region.
The 10- years old Syrian Crisis has affected the cultural milestones in the region catastrophically especially by factions affiliated to Turkish Occupation Forces, that consider relics and antiques just as means for finance, for that they set on defiling, selling and demolishing the heritage, and Palmyra was a hard proof to the barbarity and savagery of the ISIS mercenaries, that reached the area via Turkish support directly, then it was Afrin's turn and it's hills, and Tal Halaf, where it has been looted and robbed then transferred into Turkey as the whole world merely watches.
Antiquarian Yaser Shohan in an interview with ANHA, confirmed that all that has been done by Turkey and the affiliated mercenaries of robbing and looting of the archaeological sites in the areas they occupy is a war crime and aggression on the human heritage, according to the international laws and norms, and that the United Nations is a partner to Erdogan in his bid to eradicate the culture of the region, after the silence preserved in respect to the robbing and looting in the region especially in Afrin and Tal Halaf by Turkish Occupation Forces and the pro mercenaries.
Shohan noted that aggression and violations on the archaeological sites in North Eastern Syria are systematic, that aim at the eradication of the cultural heritage on the region, as we see today in Afrin, that is reputed to cultural diversity, and is one of the world's most important areas, that has 65 archaeological sites and 25 religious shrines, mostly underwent stealing and defiling by the Turkish Occupation Forces and the affiliated mercenaries.
Shohan said that :'' antiques are merely cultural heritage, not specified to a single people, and attack on these antiques is a war crime, that is included in the resolution 2347 by the UN Security Council''.
Shohan made clear that the main obstacle to protect antiques in North Eastern Syria is that the international community in never serious in holding perpetrators accountable, though laws and norms provide for heritage protection, and the second one is that some people have limited knowledge to antiques, as they are means to money and richness, as never been evidence to history.
Shohan said : '' it is the responsibility of everybody to protect heritage of the region, people know that they should protect and preserve the cultural heritage, the Culture Body of the North and East Syria spares no efforts to consolidate the belonging principle via heritage''.
Shohan is a Syrian antiquarian, specialized in the Syrian Heritage, a Damascus graduate, Archaeology Department, 1999, during the Syrian Crisis he worked with many humanitarian missions in cooperation with the UNICEF and the UNDP.
L.A.
ANHA
