​​​​​​​Afrin... wound that bleeds nonstop

 With the occupation of Afrin canton on March 18, 2018, the Turkish occupation sought;  To impose the Turkification  on the province, to ensure its survival and the consolidation of its occupation.

 After the forcible migration of the people of the canton towards al-Shahba, and the Turkish occupation state intimidating the remaining of them through kidnapping, murder and torture crimes, and the seizure of their property and looting and imposing royalties on them, the Turkish occupation began the largest operations of demographic change to tighten its grip on the canton and Turkify it as in the Iskenderun Province.

 In this report, we shed light on the policies of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries and their crimes, based on documented statistics.

 690 civilians were killed and 8,334 kidnapped

 After the occupation of the city of Afrin, the Turkish occupation state began to change the demographics, by kidnapping the people of Afrin who remained in the canton, and imprisoning them in torture centers and intimidating them to empty the interrupt.

 According to the Human Rights Organization Afrin-Syria, the Turkish occupation, over the course of five years of occupation (2018-2023), kidnapped about 8,334 citizens, including more than 430 women and 153 children, and killed 690 citizens, including 95 women and dozens of children.

 This coincided with the change of the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries to the identity of Afrin. In the first days of the occupation, the mercenaries destroyed the statue of Kawa the blacksmith;  Which is considered a symbol of the Kurdish people.

The Turkish occupation changed the names of the villages and squares in the canton, such as Azadi Square (Freedom) to (Ataturk Square), Newroz Roundabout to (Salah al-Din), the National Roundabout to (March 18 Roundabout), and Kawa Al-Haddad Roundabout to the (Olive Branch) Roundabout and the village of Qastal Miqdad to (Seljuk Obasi), and the village of Kutana to (Zafir Obasi), and Korzeleh to (Jaafar Obasi), accompanied by changing the names of archaeological and Kurdish places to Ottoman names.  The occupation forced the people to issue Turkish identification cards and deal in the Turkish lira.

 Mental Turkification

 The occupation also imposed the Turkish language on the people of Afrin, imposing the teaching of the Turkish curriculum in schools, which glorifies Turkish chauvinism and distorts the history of the region with the aim of entrenching his ideas and lies in the minds of children, raising Turkish flags and symbols in schools and public facilities.

 Afrin nature

 Even nature was not spared from the clutches of the Turkish occupation, and the nature of Afrin was systematically targeted by cutting down thousands of fruit and forest trees. According to the Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries cut down about 311,800 trees over the course of five years, between olive, forest and fruit trees.

 More than 11,000 hectares were burned, out of 33,000 hectares of the area designated for agriculture in Afrin, and 10,000 olive and forest trees were built, and settlements were built within them.

 demographics

 After the occupation attack on Afrin canton and the forced displacement of its residents, the families of mercenaries affiliated with the Turkish occupation state, in general, extremists and remnants of ISIS mercenaries, and settlement mercenaries, especially Turkmen and Palestinians, were brought in. According to statistics, the percentage of Turkmen who were brought in by the occupation is 30%, while the Palestinians are 5%.

Building 22 settlements in Afrin

 To consolidate its occupation, the Turkish occupation built 22 settlements on the geography of the occupied Afrin canton so far, with the support of Kuwaiti and Qatari organizations and under "charitable" names.

 According to the Human Rights Organization, the Turkish occupation established 7 settlements in Bulbul district to settle families it brought from other Syrian regions, which support its occupation ideology.

 In Janders district, what is known as (The White Hands Association), in cooperation with the Turkish occupation, completed the construction of a settlement village in the name of (Jabal Sheikh Muhammad), northwest of the village of Kafr Safra, in September 2022;  To settle (Palestinian) families coming from the vicinity of Damascus.

 The Palestinian "Ajnadayn" association established a settlement between the villages of Hamilka and Rifaatiya in Janders district, in which two hundred families of the Turkish occupation mercenaries lived, on January 4, 2023, and work is underway. According to sources from the canton, to establish a new settlement in the village of Marata, west of the city center of Afrin, 6 km  by the so-called Palestinian Brotherhood (Living in Dignity) Association, in partnership with a Turkish association, bringing the number with the completion of this settlement to 23 settlements.

 After the earthquake disaster

 After the catastrophe of the earthquake, February 6, 2023, the efforts of the Turkish occupation intensified to change the demography of the canton, by setting up tents and emptying the affected and unaffected areas of their original inhabitants, the latest of which is the installation of the so-called "Local Council of Afrin", which operates by direct order from the Turkish occupation state, hundreds of tents on the outskirts of the center of Afrin.

 Destroying 68 archaeological sites

 During its occupation attack on Afrin canton, the Turkish occupation targeted many archaeological sites, and this targeting continues until now. According to the Antiquities Directorate of Afrin canton, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries have destroyed over the past five years more than 68 archaeological sites and hills in the canton.

 Among the most prominent sites that were destroyed and looted is the Nabi Hori Castle, located 45 km north of the center of Afrin canton, where the features of the castle were changed and dyed with the Turkish-Ottoman character.

 The mercenaries of the Turkish occupation turned the archaeological site of Ain Dar, which was destroyed during the occupation attack on the canton, into a military training ground, so that all traces of the site would disappear.

 This documented information and statistics are only the tip of the iceberg of the Turkish occupation's crimes in Afrin canton.

 A

 ANHA