On the anniversary of the occupation of Afrin ... War crimes, Turkification policy, cultural genocide - 2

Eradication the history of the region and obliteration its Kurdish identity

Turkey sought from its first day of its occupation to Afrin canton to eradicate the landmarks of the region by obliterating the Kurdish identity in implementing what is called "Misak-ı Millî", that considers the lands of Syria and Iraq is a part of the Turkish lands, exploiting the Syrian Coalition to implement its agenda in Syria lands.

In this part we will talk about the crimes of the Turkish occupation and its gangs, and how Turkish state sought to eliminate the history of the region by settling Turkmen and destruction its features that refer to its identity.

'Councils of Turkish states'

After occupying Afrin on March,18,2018, displaced its people, MIT formed what is the so-called Locals Councils in the occupied area, which was followed by Syrian Interim Government, took Turkey as HQ and receive its salaries from Turkish government to rule the area, but the reality is the opposite.

A BBC report on March 7, 2019, citing Turkish mercenary commanders in Afrin, revealed that the Afrin Council administratively follows the Turkish province of Antakya (Hatay), which is adjacent to the occupied city of Afrin.

Turkish occupation established these councils to hide its crimes in a sign the region is ruled by the Syrian Coalition its inhabitants, but the reality is ruled by Turkish intelligence MIT as the coalition and mercenary groups that Ankara uses as a spearhead in its wars are managed. External to achieve its ambitions.

'Settlement of Turkmen on the border strip'

In the first step after its occupation of the city of Afrin, Turkey settled the people of al-Ghouta, Hama and Idlib in the city of Afrin as a start to implement its plan to change the demography of the region. And the second was by settling the Turkmen on border strip between Afrin and Turkish lands and expelling the citizens from Shara and Bulbul villages.

The human rights organization in Afrin revealed in a report, that Turkey has settled the Turkmen in the Shara district, up to the Bulbul district, and provided large sums of money to them to ensure that they remain there.

After the settlement of the Turkmen, Turkey began its next step by building a separation wall between the Afrin regions and annexing some parts of the Turkish lands, and in this context the occupation built a concrete wall, starting from the Samaan Castle and ending with the Bab al-Salama crossing in the Azaz area, at a depth of 1 kilometer in Shara and Bulbul.

In addition, Hawar news agency ANHA correspondents revealed that Turkey has built a concrete wall along the border strip in the Bulbul district and Rajo district to separate those two areas from the Syrian lands and annex them to Turkish territory.

In the context of this, Turkey occupied a distance of 315 meters from the village of Palia and one kilometer from the village of Zaara, belonging to the Bulbul district, by building a concrete wall on the border strip and controlling the strategic hills in the district.

In this context, the British academic and researcher, Dewin Hawzi, says that “through the Turkish manipulation of the Syrian National Army, this resulted in the promotion of the Turkmen factions over the Arab factions, such as al-Amashat is considered of their priority that aims to strength Turkmen groups at the expense of the Arab groups, and this is the goal of the SADAT company, which intends to form a Turkmen autonomous region and rule over the Arabs."

'Change the names of streets and centers and were named Turkish names'

In the context of obliterating Afrin's Kurdish identity, Turkey, in flagrant violation of international laws, changed the names of Afrin region's landmarks, removed the identifying signs at the entrance to the city and gave Turkish names to them.

In this context, Turkey changed the name of the village of Qastal Jundo to Selcuk Obasi, the village of Kotanli to Zafer Obasi, and the village of Karzeli to Jafar Obasi.

Turkey also changed the names of the famous squares in the center of Afrin, such as Azadi Square (Freedom) to Ataturk Square, Newroz Roundabout to Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, the National Roundabout to the March 18 Roundabout, and Kawa al-Haddad Roundabout to the Olive Branch Roundabout, and the name of the Serail Square to Erdogan Square, this is in addition to raising Turkish flags, Erdogan's pictures and pictures of Ataturk in it, as if it were a Turkish state.

'Elimination the history of the region'

In a move to eradicate the region's history, Turkey destroyed more than 28 archaeological sites and 78 archaeological hills. In this context, the Directorate of Antiquities in Afrin canton published a report in which it said that the Turkish occupation destroyed more than 70% of the antiquities in the archaeological Tel Ain Dara as a result of the brutal bombing that targeted the archaeological site on January 29, 2018. Later after the occupation, the occupation exploited the mercenaries of the al-Hamzat, the bulldozers and heavy machinery in the excavation operations and the destruction of the remaining antiquities.

And at the Nabi Hori site, the mercenaries of the Liwa Sokoor al-Shamal dug the site and destroyed it with heavy machinery, and as a result of these works, rare mosaic panels appeared, all of which were transferred to Turkish lands.

While the mercenaries of al-Amshat destroyed the "Kharabi Raza" site in the village of Termesha in the Shia district and looted mosaic panels, the mercenaries of the Hamzat and Sultan Murad also excavated sites in the village of Brad in Sherawa district and destroyed St. Maroun Church and looted its antiquities, and the Turkish occupation turned the ancient Tel Janders into a military base.

Tel Haloubiya, Burj Abdalo, Kafr Rum, Tal Shurba, Tal Laq in Shara district, Tal Dodari in Medanki district, Tal al-Jajiya in Deir Ballut village, Tal Sindiankeh in Janders district, and Tal Abidan in Bulbul district were not safe from Turkish crimes, where Turkish occupation has destroyed these sits in full.

In this context, the Syrian antiquities expert, Yasser al-Shuhan, says: “The recent Turkish attacks only indicate the existence of a systematic plan to eradicate heritage and all the components of civilization in northern Syria and to reach of the obliteration of identity and memory, in referring  of violent bombardment of the Turkish occupation and its gangs was air and ground in areas are empty from the military sites, from here we discover what these forces are aiming for in order to destroy the archaeological structures and the disappearance of history, driven by various racist considerations.

Al-Shuhan continued: “It seems that the culture of sabotage or destruction is linked to the enemies of human civilization, as the bombing and destruction of the Ain Dara temple is nothing but an attempt to obliterate the features of human existence and cancel the history in this place, but what happened was a violation and an attack not only on an archaeological site, Rather, it is an assault on all international and humanitarian instruments that prohibit the bombing of archaeological sites in situations of conflict. "

Al-Shuhan pointed to targeting not only the history of the Kurds, but also the history of Christians, and said: “Once again, the systematic Turkish destruction affects the eastern Christian heritage in Brad, and it is nothing but state terrorism against a unique Christian heritage in the north of Syria. Which is considered a Christian archaeological site of its historical and religious value and which is a pilgrimage to more than six million Maronite Christians from all parts of the world.

'Arbitrary policies aimed at obliterating identity and extracting history'

The Syrian expert documented a number of arbitrary Turkish occupation policies, and the most prominent focus of the policy of geographic Turkification and distortion of assets, saying: “The concept of Turkification refers to the process of converting people and geographical areas from their original culture to Turkish in a way of coercion or coercion or coercion and often oppression.”

Encroachment on religious shrines!

The shrine of “Hanan, the shrine of Parsa Khatun, Sheikh Hamid, Qarah Jorna, Jal Khana in Shara district, the shrine of Sheikh Zaid in the city of Afrin, the shrine of Sheikh Junaid and Sheikh Muhammad in the district of Janders, the shrine of Sheikh Moss in Rajo district, Ali Dada shrine in Shih district Sheikh Zeid shrine in Afrin city for sabotage by Turkey and its mercenaries.

'The reality will remain a historical reality, no matter how hard they try to distort the facts.'

And Syrian archaeologist Yasser al-Shuhan asserts, "The reality will remain a historical reality, no matter how they try to distort the facts. The Turkish regime, aiming at abolition, changed the names of the regions to the Turkish ones, so Jarablus became called Bakirkarmish, and the city of al-Rai became Juban Bay, and the village of Jubb al-Dakkoy became" Qangwi "as it changed The name of the Mosque of the Kurds refers to the “Mosque of the Turks,” although all historical records indicate that the official and historical name of the mosque is “the Mosque of the Kurds,” and the military authority was not satisfied with the change, so that the media also launched the name “Bayerbujaq” on the Turkmen Mountain in the countryside of Lattakia. Lots of locations and towns that have changed their names. "

There is a strong element of religious persecution'

For his part, British academic and researcher, Dewin Hawzi, says: “There is a strong element of religious persecution in Afrin. More than half of the Yazidi shrines have been destroyed by the Syrian National Army in Afrin, and the Sham Legion" Faylaq al-Sham" is targeting the Yazidis more than other gangs.

'A clear case of ethnic cleansing'

While the American activist Megan Bodit affirms that, unfortunately, the international community has done little to stop the forced demographic change in occupied Afrin, the forced displacement of Kurds, Yazidis and other communities that were living in Afrin, and considered that “what Turkey is doing is a clear case of ethnic cleansing according to International standards.

She pointed out that international organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Parliament, condemned the treatment received by civilians in the occupied territories, but "these reports and decisions have no strong impact."

For his part, British researcher Dewin Hawzi confirms that the United Nations has been unimaginably slow to act despite reports of these actions since 2018.

He pointed out that in 2020 the United Nations published a report on the crimes of Turkey and its mercenaries in Afrin, and said: “But nevertheless, the United Nations depends on its members when they are willing to move, especially the big five who can exercise their right to veto any decision. From the Security Council, because it is impossible to do anything without unanimity. These five countries have different goals in Syria, and from here which one of them can prevent the United Nations from engaging in conflicts around the world, such as the Russian veto, for example to intervene in Syria. It is also clear that the United Nations You do not know how to solve the problems that require non-state actors, but there is one positive that Turkey lost the lobby to become a member of the United Nations Security Council in 2014. "

'International organizations should get Turkey out of Afrin'

Megan Bodit stresses that it requires international organizations and international countries to demand Turkey exit from Syria, and to allow all displaced people to return to their homes, adding: “Sanctions should be imposed on individuals and armed groups responsible for forced displacement and attacks on ethnic and religious minorities, and states should stop supplying Turkey with weapons and the security assistance is to withdraw completely from the lands that it has illegally occupied in northern Syria.

How should the Turkish occupation be held accountable?

As for the Syrian antiquities expert, Yasser al-Shuhan, he called for the Turkish occupation to be held accountable in accordance with international charters and agreements and said: “The international community has agreed to clarify the responsibilities of the hostile criminal offender towards cultural property, and to call on states to respect the rules of responsibility, and from this cultural platform, we issue an invitation in the name of all humanity To the international community to shoulder its responsibility towards these cultural crimes, and we also call on it to hold the perpetrators accountable, in accordance with the articles of the following charters and agreements:

1- Article 56 of The Hague Regulations Concerning the Rules and Customs of Land War of 1907: Taking judicial measures against those who intentionally destroy institutions designated for worship or artistic, cultural and scientific property and historical monuments, without specifying the nature of the judicial proceedings, whether they are criminal or civil, National or international.

2 - Article 28 of the 1954 Hague Convention: States parties undertake to take measures in their criminal legislation that guarantee prosecution for violating the provisions of the convention or ordering its violation.

3- Protocol I of 1977 annexed to the Geneva Conventions: Approval of the legal adaptation of the violation of the protection of protected cultural property, considering the intentional launch of attacks on historical and cultural property, places of worship and works of art.

4- The Second Protocol of 1999 (Articles 15-21): which includes obligating states parties to consider the crimes stipulated in the aforementioned articles as crimes under domestic law, and to impose penalties on the perpetrators of these violations within the framework of the principles of public law and international law.

At the end of his speech, the Syrian antiquities expert said: “As archaeological sites, historical buildings and all cultural property are subjected to multiple attacks, it is necessary to feel the national responsibility of the people, because of these monuments of historical importance. This responsibility is not limited to those working in the archaeological field. The duty of everyone without exception. "

T/S

ANHA