Turkish occupation, affiliated groups represent danger to crops on lines of contact

With the approaching harvest season of agricultural crops "wheat, barley and other aromatic crops", the suffering of farmers in NE Syria is renewed and their fears of their inability to harvest their crops due to the Turkish occupation's continuous bombing of the area, especially those located next to the areas occupied by Turkey, which are witnessing daily bombardment.

On May 11, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries targeted farmers in the village of Tal Laban in the countryside of Tal Tamr while they were working in their fields, which led to the martyrdom of the farmer, Muhammad Abdel Fattah Hussaino, and the wounding of 4 others.

During ANHA agency's monitoring of the protection of agricultural crops by their owners, farmer Hammoud al-Salama from the countryside of Ain Issa said: "Agriculture is our only source of livelihood, and we have spent huge sums this year to make it a success, so we guard our land until the end of the harvest season."

He added, "Our crops are exposed to fires, due to the Turkish occupation's bombing of our region on a daily basis," stressing that they are ready with the emergency teams that were equipped by the concerned authorities to deal with fires, in addition to preparing the tractors and water tanks.

The Girê Spî canton council had formed, during a meeting, a crisis cell in implementation of the Autonomous Administration's decision to confront the danger of agricultural crop fires, consisting of agriculture committees, municipalities, and district councils, in addition to protection committees and internal security forces.

During 24-hour shifts throughout the agricultural season, in addition to securing fire trucks and water tanks to ensure that any fire is dealt with on time.

The agricultural areas licensed by the Directorate of Agriculture in Girê Spî canton amount to 19,000 irrigated hectares and more than 31,000 hectares distributed over all the geography of the canton and its countryside, "Ain Issa district, Suluk district, Al-Jarn district, and the town of Al-Hishah," most of which are located on the lines of contact with the Turkish occupation.

As for the agricultural lands located on the lines of contact with the Turkish occupation in the districts of Zarghan and Tal Tamr, the occupation has prevented farmers from cultivating their land since the occupation of the city of Serêkaniyê on October 9, 2019.

The area of agricultural lands located on the contact lines between the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation and the district of Tal Tamr and Zarghan is 20,000 dunums (10,000 dunums in the countryside of Tal Tamr, and 10,000 dunums in Zarghan district).

In this regard, the farmer, Hamid Taha Al-Hammad, from the village of Qabr Kabir, located on the line of contact with the Turkish occupier, said: "I own about 400 dunums of agricultural land, and for four years I have not been able to cultivate ," calling for an end to the crimes of the occupation and the return of lands to their owners.

As for the farmer Abdullah Abdul Latif, who owns 1,500 dunums of agricultural land in the village of Al-Manajir in the occupied city of Serêkaniyê, he explained, "Previously, we cultivated our land with all kinds of vegetables, in addition to wheat and barley, and we lived in complete luxury, but now, after its occupation, we live in camps with the most basic necessities."

In the context, the co-chair of the Agriculture Committee in Tal Tamr district, Saeed Muhammad Abdel-Baqi, said, "The area of agricultural land located on the line of contact with the Turkish occupier and its mercenaries, the Syrian National Army, is about 10,000 dunums, and it was not cultivated because of the Turkish occupation."

Abdel-Baqi noted that there are also great fears about the lands under their control, because a small fire on the Turkish occupier's side will intentionally spread to the lands of Tal Tamr district.

Agricultural fields extending 65 km in Manbij, adjacent to the occupied areas

With the start of the wheat and barley harvest season, the suffering and fears of farmers in the Manbij countryside are renewed about their inability to harvest their crops.

The agricultural fields extend over 65 km, with a width of 4 km, adjacent to the occupied areas.

On this subject, Abd al-Sattar al-Haj Hussein, from the village of Arab Hassan, adjacent to the front lines, whose area extends approximately 8 kilometers, and is separated by the banks of the Sagur River, spoke about the suffering of farmers while harvesting their agricultural crops and harvesting wheat in the lands separating the Manbij Military Council and the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation in the occupied territories.

He said, "The suffering of farmers increases with the approach of the wheat harvest because the harvesters did not reach those lands for fear of being targeted and attacked by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation state. Every year, the Turkish occupation state targets farmers who approach their lands for the purpose of watering or caring for them."

The suffering of Hamid al-Ahmad, a farmer from the village of al-Houta on the western side of the city of Manbij, did not differ, explaining that "most of the losses that our lands and crops are exposed to are in the summer harvest season, due to the large number of weeds and dry mowing between trees."

Al-Ahmad added, "Some lands are under fire by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation. When we try to cross into our lands, we cannot enter them, as there is a great danger. Even the harvesters find it very difficult to harvest agricultural crops, because they are targeted by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation."

At the end of his speech, Hamid Al-Ahmad stressed, "The farmer suffers and risks a whole year to cultivate his land, however the fire comes to devour this fatigue within minutes.

In al-Shahba district and the villages of Shera and Sherawa district, where the Damascus government besieges thousands of people and prevents them from basic materials, the occupation and its mercenaries on the other hand do not allow farmers and field owners to cultivate their own areas.

According to the information obtained by ANHA correspondents from the concerned authorities, there is a large uncultivated area that extends from Sherawa district in the west to Nayrabia in the east, exceeding 10 thousand hectares.

And the lands near the lines of contact with the Turkish occupation, where farmers suffer from repeated encroachments as a result of the bombing and burning of lands, especially during the harvest season .

a.k

ANHA