Bakr Alo: demographic change in Afrin is a continuation of a century-old Turkish policy

The co-chair of the Executive Council of Afrin region, Bakr Alo, held the international community responsible for continuing the policy of demographic change pursued by the Turkish Occupying State in occupied Afrin, following the forced displacement of its residents and the resettlement of mercenaries and their families.

29 April, 2021 05:49

Al-SHAHBA - FIRAS IBRAHIM

Since the first months of Afrin's occupation in 2018, the Human Rights Organization in Afrin had monitored numerous images of demographic change in Afrin, the first of which was the resettlement of mercenaries and their families of indigenous people who had been forcibly displaced and their property had been confiscated.

The Turkish Occupation Army then imposed Turkish currency circulation, Turkish language learning, flying the Turkish flag on circles and changing the names of some villages in Afrin, not to mention the traffic signs referring to the Turkish state of Hatay, in a clear reference to the Turkish state's intention to annex occupied Afrin to its territory and take it from the Syrian motherland.

In the past few days, local sources of the Human Rights Organization of Afrin have revealed the intention of the Turkish occupation to build a settlement project in the occupied villages of Afrin, with a view to consolidating the demographic change sought by the Turkish State.

The Turkish occupation, with the participation of its local council in Afrin, established a new settlement complex in the village of Khalta in Sherawa district, east of the occupied city of Afrin, with funding and support from the States of Kuwait and Qatar.

The settlement complex has the name "Kuwait's Al-Rahma," which is a small village of about 300 houses and is headed by the so-called "Khayr al-Sham Brotherhood Association " supported by Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey.

In response to this draft resolution, the co-chair of the Executive Council of Afrin region, Bakr Alo explained in ANHA's statement that Turkey's pursuit of forced displacement of indigenous peoples was evident from the outset, and no one had known. The past few days and the willingness to build settlements have confirmed Turkey's policy and aspirations to change Afrin's demography.

"The Turkish occupation is completing the project that it started in Bakur Kurdistan 100 years ago in Afrin and the areas it occupied in Syria by changing the demographics of the region under democratic, humanitarian and legal slogans and nomenclature, which are far from the meaning of those slogans.

On the settlement of the families of mercenaries and civilians from various Syrian areas, he stressed that "the Turkish occupation is working to settle Turkmen families on the artificial border strip between Afrin and Bakur Kurdistan with a view to consolidating its occupation."

Kuwaiti and Qatari funding for the settlement project in Sherawa district raised the question of "What is Kuwait's Al-Rahma doing in occupied Afrin, where was Kuwait's Al-Rahma before the occupation of Afrin, when its inhabitants were in their homes?"

Some articles of international law criminalizing the forced displacement of indigenous peoples "article 7 (6) 8/of the Rome Statute of 1998 and, in particular, article 7, stated that forced displacement of people from their homes amounted to crimes against humanity.

He referred to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the 1977 Protocols, which considered that all forms of demographic change and crimes against peoples amounted to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

On the other hand, he mentioned other high-profile forms of violations and demographic change, such as preventing the wearing of Kurdish dresses and other forms of violations by which Turkey and its mercenary wanted to displace the indigenous population remaining in its territory, after imposing severe besiege on them and the practice of the most heinous special methods of warfare against them.

In conclusion, the co-chair of the Executive Council of Afrin region, Bakr Alo condemned the position of international organizations and the international community as a whole, which was shamefully silent on all violations despite the genuine documentation of everything that was taking place in Afrin and all of Turkey's violations against its civilians.

T/S

ANHA