Video documents olives theft in Afrin before start of season

Gaith Shams Eddin 

ANHA agency recently obtained a copy of a video depicted in Afrin city, showing families of settlers linked to the Turkish occupation mercenaries stealing the olive crop before the official harvest season begins.

In a special statement to ANHA agency, Ibrahim Sheikho, director of the Human Rights Organization in Afrin – Syria, confirmed that the organization documented this incident, which occurred on the road to the city, along with many similar violations.

Sheikho made clear, "The economic committees affiliated with the so-called Transitional Government are requiring residents to provide money or a portion of the crop as a condition for obtaining permission to harvest their crops, in stark contradiction to what is being promoted in the media about returning property to its owners."

He added that the Turkish occupation mercenaries have organized dozens of groups, comprising hundreds of individuals, with the aim of plundering the crops of the local population, noting that many Afrin farmers are being prevented from entering their lands as the harvest season approaches, as part of a systematic policy of olives theft.

Sheikho also pointed out that "the Afrin Administration's Economic Office continues to impose complex procedures on residents returning to their villages, such as submitting identification documents and inventory inheritance in the event of the owner's death, and preventing them from harvesting their crops before October 15. Meanwhile, Turkish-backed armed factions and their allied settlers continue to steal the crops in front of the occupation authorities and the region's administration, without any accountability or deterrent, in the absence of justice, leaving thieves to roam freely without accountability or oversight."

J.J

ANHA