​​​​​​​Occupied Afrin... The clearest example of the anti-Kurdish mentality by Turkish state

Afrin canton is located on the banks of the Afrin River in the far northwest of Syria, adjacent to the city of Azaz to the east and Aleppo to the south, and to the southwest lies Idlib Governorate, and is adjacent to the Turkish borders from the west and north; It is considered an important commercial and administrative center in Syria, and it included dozens of factories and large industrial facilities.

Afrin is one of the mountainous areas, with an area of about 3,850 km2, with a population of 523,258, according to the statistics of the Damascus Government in 2012. Most of its residents are of the Kurdish people, reaching 96%, and Afrin includes about 350 villages and small and large towns, the most important of which is the city of Afrin, Janders, Bulbul, Shia, Rajo, Shara and Mobata.

Afrin is famous for the production of olive oil, citrus fruits and vines, and there are many archaeological sites in Afrin, some of which are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, including Al-Nabi Hori, Deir Mishmasha, and Ain Dara hill, which is located 5 kilometers south of the city of Afrin, and 50 kilometers north of The city of Aleppo, which dates back to 10,000 years and is considered one of the most unique archaeological sites in the world.

After 2012, Afrin turned into a safe haven for tens of thousands of the Syrian people, who fled the clashes and battles between the Damascus government forces and the armed factions and mercenaries on the one hand, and the mercenary factions themselves on the other hand. After 2012, the population of Afrin reached nearly one million people.

breach of international law

In a clear and explicit violation of international law, on January 20, 2018, the Turkish occupation state launched a large-scale attack against the Afrin canton, with the participation of approximately 25,000 mercenaries from the remnants of the mercenaries of Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS/ Daesh, who were reconstituted and reorganized under the name of the "Syrian National Army".

The purpose of launching Turkish attack against Afrin canton was to commit genocide under pretext of protecting Turkish national security, without Turkey providing any evidence about the allegations of the threat. The military and security forces in Afrin, nor in north and east Syria, have not fired a single shot towards Turkish territory since the start of the July 19th Revolution, 2012, despite the repeated provocations of the Turkish state by continuously targeting civilians and forces present in the area, and issuing continuous threats to invade the region, in addition to opening the borders to The entry of extremist elements and mercenaries into the Syrian regions, to fight the population of NE, Syria.

The Turkish attack against Afrin began with 72 warplanes launching attacks against more than 185 service, civilian, medical and military sites, accompanied by artillery and missile bombardment, followed by ground attacks, with Russian complicity through a barter agreement that included the withdrawal of mercenaries of the Turkish occupation state from Ghouta. On the other hand, Russia opened the air to Turkey to launch attacks on Afrin.

The Turkish occupation state committed horrific massacres against the people of Afrin. Within 20 days, 173 civilians were killed, including 26

Child, 21 women. In addition, 464 others were injured, including 50 children and 71 women. Dozens of archaeological sites, houses of worship and martyrs’ shrines were also destroyed.

After a 58-day resistance, the Turkish occupation state occupied Afrin canton, forcing most of Afrin's residents to flee from their villages, towns and cities, and their number reached nearly 300,000, as a result of the crimes committed by the Turkish occupation army against the people, followed by a series of systematic demographic change, which began with the removal of a statue. Kawa al-Hadad, which is a symbol of freedom and Newroz and the Kurds as well, and from all the city’s landmarks, and changed the names of squares, public facilities, schools and even the names of some villages and towns from Kurdish to Turkish, and raised Turkish flags over all buildings and public facilities, and put the Turkish flag over the students’ uniforms, and then The few remaining residents of the city were clamped down through kidnappings, murders, rape and ransom demands.

The Human Rights Organization Afrin - Syria has documented the kidnapping of more than 8,063 civilians during four years of occupation, and the loss of more than 655 civilians' lives, 90 of whom lost their lives under torture, and more than 696 were injured as a result of the Turkish bombing. The proportion of Kurds in Afrin has now decreased to less than 15%.

Lawyer Gabriel Mustafa, co-chair of the Bar Association in Afrin, and member of the Human Rights Organization in Afrin, said: "The attack launched by the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries against Afrin with warplanes, cannons and missiles confirms that what the Turkish occupation state was claiming through its media outlets that the target the elimination of the military forces present in Afrin is the biggest slander and deception of the international community and humanity."

Afrin is a Kurdish region historically, geographically, culturally and people

Gabriel Mustafa stressed that Afrin is a Kurdish region historically, geographically, culturally and people, and the goal of the Turkish attack is to eliminate the Kurdish people in Afrin, and said: "After the announcement of the Autonomous Administration, the people of Afrin became more aware, organized, will and strong, and in all educational, service and social aspects, so it was The aim of the attack is to exterminate the Kurdish people in Afrin, and this is a continuation of the modern Turkish state’s racist policy towards the Kurds, and it is a continuation of the series of crimes committed against the Kurdish people in Bakur Kurdistan in the nineties of the last century.”

Mustafa explained that despite the brutal attack and the use of all advanced and modern weapons, the people of Afrin withstood and resisted for 58 days, and said: "As a result of the silence of the international community, Russia's failure and giving Turkey the green light and opening the air to Turkey, Turkey occupied Afrin on March 18."

After the Turkish occupation state occupied Afrin, it opened the door for its mercenaries to loot, sabotage, demolish and seize civilian property and property from vehicles, shops, factories and homes.

Gabriel Mustafa explained that the first process of demographic change affecting Afrin took place on March 18, 2018, when Turkey began forcibly displacing more than 350,000 Kurdish people from Afrin, He said: "This policy is still continuing, through kidnappings and extortion of civilians, and according to our statistics, more than 8,100 Kurdish people have been kidnapped, tortured and blackmailed." 

What is Turkey aiming at now?

Since the beginning of the attack, Turkey has been seeking to create a demographic structure in line with its colonial aspirations, so it brought in settlers from mercenary families from various Syrian regions and settled them in the homes and homes of the displaced Kurds. On June 14, 2018, Human Rights Watch issued a report summarizing some of what happened in Afrin After the occupation, it said, "Armed groups supported by Turkey in the (Free Syrian Army) seized, looted and destroyed the property of Kurdish civilians in the Afrin region in northern Syria. The anti-government armed groups housed fighters and their families in residents' homes, and destroyed and looted civilian properties without compensating their owners."

The bulldozing and looting of the cultural and historical portfolio of Afrin

In a step that is considered the first of its kind in modern history, similar to what the Mongols did during their invasion of the Middle East, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries began bulldozing and demolishing archaeological sites and destroying everything related to the Kurds. On the UNESCO list, the Prophet Hori classified on the UNESCO list, the shrine of Sheikh Hamid, the Pavlon and Qurra shrine, the Sinka village shrine, the shrine of Sheikh Hanan near, the shrine of Sarah Qizah - Khalnaira, the shrine of Abd al-Rahman, the shrine of Iska village, Tel Dirswan , Arab Sheikho, Tal Ubaidan, Dodari Cave - Sherawa ... etc.), the main objective is to undermine the history of Afrin.

Gabriel Mustafa confirmed that the Turkish occupation state destroyed more than 28 religious shrines belonging to the Yazidis, Alawites and Christians, cut down hundreds of thousands of trees, burned agricultural lands, and changed all the landmarks of Afrin. He said: "Turkey has changed the features of everything that symbolizes the Kurds and their culture. This is the real genocide against the Kurds."

Some examples of settlement operation in Afrin

Following the attack on archaeological sites, Turkish language was imposed and blinded in Afrin, and a Turkish identification card was issued, and then began the settlement process. The first settlement operation began on April 7, 2018, when settlers from the areas of (Babela, Bait Sahm and Yalda) in Damascus countryside were settled in Afrin. About 600 families, including 325 Palestinian families, were settled in Deir Baallot camp in Afrin countryside.

On October 15, 2018, it was announced the formation of a cooperative society from the settlers of Ghouta, to establish a settlement complex in the name of "Shamiya Village." west of Mremen town, funded by Muslim Brotherhood. In June 2020, a settlement complex was established in Ashrafia neighborhood, and on November 12 2020, work began on the construction of a settlement complex in Baflon village. After that, "Afraza" complex was built with funding from Qatari-Turkish Al-Bayan Association, and then what was known as a complex near Haj Hasna village, which included the construction of 247 housing units, and at the beginning of 2021 Turkish occupation began building 3 housing settlement complexes on the border line in Sheeh district, and the mercenaries of Al-A'amshat sponsored the construction of the project, which is intended to house the families of the dead in the battles of Libya and the settlers.

According to a report by Human Rights Organization Afrin - Syria, issued in 2021 about what is happening in Afrin in the context of the processes of demographic change, settlement pursued by Turkish occupation accompanied by its mercenary, it referred to the construction of dozens of settlements for Arabs and Turkmen brought from various Syrian governorates with the support of Qatari organizations and Kuwaiti. 400,000 settlers have been settled throughout the villages and districts of Afrin from the conflict areas in Syria, including more than (500) families from the Arabs of Palestine 48, and due to overcrowding, more than (30) camps have been established throughout the region. Such as:

1- Sheikh al-Hadid district (Sheeh) A settlement is being built at Qarmtlq village road.

2- Jinderes district (Jendres): Settlements are being built in each of Jendres Hill and another site on Yalanqoz road, and the villages of Deir Baallot, Qolka, Dewan al-Tahtani, Dewan Fawqani, Eska, and Jalama.

3- In Afrin city, settlements are being built in Mahmoudiya neighborhood on Rajo road.

4- In the villages of Khalta, Deir Mishmish and Bassalhaya.

5- In Rajo district, a settlement is being built in Medan Ikbis town.

6- In Shran district, settlements are being built in Kurdish Yazidi villages of Baflon and A'alqena.

7- In Bilbul district, there are 7 settler camps, and most of their original inhabitants are Kurds, prevented from returning to their homes.

8- Shadera village of Sherawa district, a settlement association is being built in the name of Basma village by White Hands Association and Palestinian "Live in Dignity" Association.

Settlement operations are directly sponsored by Turkish and Muslim Brotherhood associations in Europe, as well as Qatari, Kuwaiti and Palestinian associations under the name of relief.

With the beginning of 2022, Turkish occupation state began constructing a new settlement on Shra-Jamo road in Shra district, consisting of 400 homes with direct funding from an association called "Live in Dignity" for Palestinians "48", and the association seeks, through partnership between it and Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Foundation, to build 7 settlement villages, especially for mercenary families, in Jabal al-Sheikh Muhammad in Janders district, and Jabal Shoti.

Consolidating demographic change in Afrin

The policy pursued by Turkish occupation state against Afrin differs from the policy it follows in the rest of occupied areas, and it seeks to separate it from Syria, similar to Iskenderun Brigade, which occupied in 1939 during the French mandate over Syria. This is confirmed by Gabriel Mustafa, who said: "Turkey occupied Iskenderun district and changed its cultural and archaeological features, and its name to the state of Hatay."

What is going on in Afrin now?

Gabriel Mustafa referred to what is happening in Afrin at the present time, and said: "Unfortunately, Afrin has become a center for commission of all kinds of crimes, until we reached the point of referring to legal dictionaries and terms. We as jurists are unable to find a legal description of the crimes that are being committed (Violent crimes, murder, robbery, rape of women, appropriation of civilians' money) all of that, and gathering of all mercenaries and terrorists in Afrin Catnton, Such as Tahrer al-Sham (Jabhat al-Nusra), and there are reports confirming the presence of leaders of the terrorist organization ISIS and they are now leaders in the factions of so-called Free Army, and Turkey is training them, and sent them to Libya. We also saw how Turkish occupation state sent these mercenaries from Afrin to Azerbaijan to fight Armenians."

Mustafa refer that there are reports confirming Turkey's training of a group of mercenaries in Afrin in order to send them to Ukraine to fight Russia.

Gabriel Mustafa explained: "Unfortunately, despite reports of International Investigation Committees, International Organizations, Amnesty International, and other about what is happening in Afrin, the crimes that have been elevated to war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, Turkish occupation state and mercenary groups are raising the pace of these crimes against the remaining residents of Afrin and forcing them to be displaced, in an effort to achieve Milli Charter, in which it claims that the borders of modern Turkish state start from Mediterranean Sea in west to Mosul in the east.

Gabriel Mustafa indicated that the only people that resisted, struggled and was able to withstand so-called Ottoman Empire is Kurdish people and said: "The only people that Ottoman Empire could not eradicate historically, culturally and ethnically is Kurdish people, so what Turkish occupation state is doing now in Afrin is An extension of the policy of cultural fusion against Kurdish people, because the steadfastness of Kurdish people culturally, historically and geographically considers a threat to its Ottoman project that Recep Tayip Erdogan seeks to achieve.

T\S-Sh-S

ANHA