Human rights Org reveals outcome of occupation's crimes in Afrin over three years

With the approaching of the third anniversary of the occupation of Afrin by the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries as a result of barbaric aggression after facing a popular resistance that lasted for 58 days, the Human Rights Organization Afrin - Syria documented the statistics of the crimes of the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries in Afrin; killing, theft and kidnapping during the past 3 years.

Dozens of members of the Human Rights Organization Afrin - Syria gathered in Serdem camp square in Al-Ahdath district in Al-Shahba canton to make a statement about the crimes of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries within three years.

The statement was read by the two members of the Human Rights Organization in Arabic by Roshin Mustafa, and in Kurdish by Wafaa Bakr, and the text of the statement included:

 More than 300 thousand civilians have been displaced since March 18, 2018 until now from Afrin, and that the forced displacement is still continuing from Afrin under the pressure of the Turkish occupation and the Syrian armed factions loyal to it, in order to settle families from Ghouta, Daraa and Idlib throughout Afrin region and to continue the process of demographic change in it.

According to what is being circulated, the percentage of Kurds in Afrin now does not exceed 23% in the major processes of demographic change that Syria has witnessed since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, based on a consensus between the Turkish state and some regional and international powers.

Approximately 400 thousand settlers have been settled in all villages and districts of Afrin, brought from the conflict zones in Syria, especially the southern countryside of Idlib and the southern and western countryside of Aleppo, and due to overpopulation, random camps have been established throughout the region.

Since three years, the Turkish occupation seeks to change the identity of Afrin and its landmarks, and replace it with the Turkish identity by changing the names of streets, squares, public facilities, hospitals, and raising the Turkish flag over schools and public facilities.

The Turkish occupation changed the names of the main squares in Afrin city center, such as Azadi Square (Freedom) to Ataturk Square and Newroz Roundabout to Salah al-Din, the National Roundabout to March 18^th Roundabout, and Kawa Al-Haddad Roundabout to the Olive Branch Roundabout, and within the framework of changing the names of the villages, the Turkish occupation changed the name of Qastal Mekdad village to Seljuk Obasi, Kutana village to Zafer Obasi, and Kurzeleh to Jafar Obasi.

This was accompanied by changing the names of strategic and Kurdish places to Ottoman names, placing the Turkish flag and pictures of Erdogan everywhere and on sign boards in every village, district and city center, as well as teaching the Turkish language in schools and placing the Turkish flag on the students ’ uniforms.

In addition, the name of Avrin Hospital was written in Turkish, after it used to be written in Kurdish and Arabic, not to mention changing the identification panels of shops and streets and writing them in Turkish only, and this coincided with tampering with holy places and destroying the religious shrines of the Yazidis in the Yazidi villages.      

As part of the process of demographic change and changing the identity of the areas they occupy, the Turkish occupation forced the people to issue Turkish identification cards to Syrian civilians within the Syrian territories they occupy.

Perhaps most of the practices carried out by the Turkish occupation and its armed men against the people of Afrin who remained in it is the increase in kidnappings and killings, most of which were aimed at demanding a ransom.

In this regard, more than 7,476 civilians have been kidnapped during three years of occupation, and the fate of more than half of them is still unknown, not to mention that Kurdish civilians have been repeatedly kidnapped in order to demand a ransom, and this is what Afrin residents at home describe as becoming a "profitable business" for the gunmen.

As for the situation of women in Afrin, 74 cases of murder, including 5 suicides of women and 69 cases of rape were documented, not to mention the assaults that women are exposed to on a daily basis in public.

As for the killings, more than 612 civilians were killed, of whom 500 were killed as a result of the Turkish shelling, 82 were killed under torture, and more than 696 wounded were documented as a result of the Turkish shelling, including about 303 children and 214 women. Mine accidents and booby-traps included 214 cases. More than 315,600 olive and other forest trees were cut down to trade their firewood, and more than 12 thousand olive and various forest trees were burned, in addition to burning more than a third of the area designated for agriculture, which is estimated at more than 11,600 thousand hectares, since its occupation of Afrin until now, as well as the seizure of thousands of homes of forcibly displaced civilians, and the transfer of dozens of them into prisons, detention centers and headquarters belonging to the armed factions affiliated with the Turkish occupation, and trading them in sale and purchase.

Perhaps the most material damage, looting and plunder operations carried out by the Turkish occupation gunmen is the seizure of olive crop and exporting it to Turkey through the border crossing of Hamam village in Janders district, which was established by the Turkish occupation last year to facilitate the crossing of olive and stolen crop and sell it as a Turkish product in the global markets such as Spain and America.

In addition to the destruction of most of the archaeological sites listed on the UNESCO list during the attacks on Afrin, such as "Ain Dara temple, Al-Nabi Horri, Al-Dodaria Cave, the Tomb of Saint Maroun" and many other archaeological sites.

According to what was confirmed by the Directorate of Antiquities of Afrin, there are about 78 archaeological mounds in Afrin region, and that the Turkish occupation and its armed men have dug and excavated most of the hills in search of antiquities and archaeological finds.

According to the statistics of the Department of Antiquities of Afrin, more than 28 archaeological sites an warehouses and more than 15 religious shrines of various sects and religions were destroyed, in addition to the razing of many graves and transforming one of them into a livestock market.

In addition to that, the Turkish occupation dismantled the railway extending from Meydan Ekbes in Rajo district which passes across Kafr Janna and Qatama in Shera district, and sold it to merchants from Azaz.

D.H

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