Collection and preparation: Geostrategic team for studies
In this report, we monitor all terrorist and criminal acts committed by the Turkish occupation and Syrian mercenary groups against Kurdish civilians in the Syrian Kurdish region of Afrin during the past week.
Not a day passes by the remaining Kurdish civilians in the Afrin region without the Syrian mercenary groups, which are managed by the Turkish occupation, committing the crimes of seizing property, systematic kidnappings, identity killings, and the constant threats to push the remaining Kurds to leave their homes and livelihoods for those predatory groups that do not know values and morals. and does not abide by international covenants and covenants. The Turkish occupation sponsors these groups under various names to consolidate the demographic change against Kurdish civilians, cut down trees and seize property and olive groves for which the Afrin region is famous, in addition to building racist settlements sponsored by some Turkish organizations and the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Europe, as well as Kuwaiti, Palestinian and Qatari associations To build settlement villages in the area after seizing the property of Syrian Kurdish civilians.
The sources that follow up on the violations in Afrin confirm that the Syrian mercenary groups, with the support of the Turkish occupation army, continue to obliterate the Kurdish identity in Afrin through the Turkification and Arabization of the area, the destruction of antiquities by conducting excavations and tampering with them, and the imposition of royalties on civilians, in addition to dividing the villages and neighborhoods in the area between the battalions and groups that Terrorism of all kinds. The remaining Kurdish percentage in the region is living in a state of daily panic as a result of the practices carried out by the settlers, as all the remaining Kurds are accused if they demand their stolen homes or usurped farms. Extortion continues, as these groups arrest civilians and demand money from their families until they are released.
We present here a number of reports issued by some organizations interested in following up the violations and the development of events in the occupied region of Afrin during the past few days.
Local sources reported that the Turkish occupation authorities are continuing the process of changing the demographics of the region at a high pace and building new settlements in the occupied city of Afrin.
According to the source, the new settlement consists of "400" houses and is fully funded through the "Live in Dignity" association for the "48" Palestinians, which is actively involved in building settlements inside the occupied "Afrin" area.
The source added that the Palestinian "Live in Dignity" association has great settlement activities in the occupied north of Syria, especially the occupied "Afrin" area.
The “Live in Dignity” Association for Palestinians also has 48 partnerships and support provided to Turkish disaster and emergency management organizations and institutions, and aims to build “7” model settlement villages in order to settle families of the armed factions present in the occupied countryside of Afrin. The Turkish Disaster Management Foundation indicates that the settlement villages to be established It will be divided into the following areas:
"Jabal al-Sheikh Muhammad", north of the town of Kafr Safra, in the Janders district
"Jebel Shoti" is located on the road to Mount Qazqli, north of the town of Kafr Safra_Hajj Hassan
The "Live in Dignity" association has also funded the construction of the settlement of Shadera village in Shirawa district, most of whose original inhabitants are from the Yezidi sect of Jindires district.
The source added that another settlement is being built between the villages of Jumanli and Omarawa, which belong to Sharan district, in the occupied countryside of Afrin, in the northeastern side of the village of Jumanli, known as the "Jayy Bland, Jabal Al Aali" site, without knowing any other details about it.
Violations of the Turkish occupation against the archaeological right of Telalcija in Shara/Sharran district
The hill is located in the Sharan district of Afrin region, and it is one of the hills located within the residential communities in the middle of the village of Aljia, which is about 30 km to the north of the city center of Afrin, and it is one of the hills not registered in the restrictions of the Syrian Antiquities Directorate. By following the file of Tel Algia, we obtained satellite images dating back to the post-Turkish period that prove the exposure of the archaeological hill to sabotage excavations with heavy machinery at the northern end of the high hill (Acropolis) in particular, as shown in the image showing areas of the low city in the southeastern end From the base of the high hill, we do not know exactly the extent of the damage to the hill and its archaeological layers, and we also have no idea about the archaeological finds and materials that appeared during the sabotage excavations. Although these acts of sabotage continued after the date of the satellite image September 28, 2019.
“Mast Ashura” village - takeover, property, and cutting down forests, a civilian was injured by a mine explosion, children were injured in “Talrefaat”, arbitrary arrests, and forests were cut down.
A “legitimacy arbitration committee” was formed with the efforts of “Sheikh Osama Al-Rifai,” the head of the “Syrian Islamic Council - Istanbul” and with the authorization of the militias, to look into the violations and crimes attributed to the so-called “Mohammed Al-Jassem Abu Amsha – the leader of the militia of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division,” to resolve the dispute and the dispute between him and The “Azm Chamber” group, and not for the sake of fairness to the people of Sheikh Al-Hadid and its villages who were subject to the punishments; The committee came out with a paper on February 16, 2022 AD, in which it acknowledges that witnesses and complainants were threatened and intimidated, and confirms that “cases” against him have been proven and calls for the dismissal of Abu Amsha and some of his companions from their duties, so the exchange of words between the disputants renewed, so that the Turkish intelligence had the final say - according to media news Local - and the matter is resolved in favor of his staying and closing the file of complaints against him.
The following are the violations and crimes committed:
= Mist'eşûra village:
It belongs to the Mabta/Maabatli sub-district and is 15/km away from its center. It consists of about 65 houses, in which there were about 400 indigenous Kurdish residents before the occupation. About 35 families = 125 people remained, and 10 were settled. Families = 60 people/ of those recruited.
The village is controlled by the militia of the "Mohammed Al-Fateh Brigade", which took the house of "Ahmed Aziz" as a military headquarters, and seized the homes of the forcibly displaced and stole their contents, and from the rest of the houses they stole supplies, copper utensils, gas cylinders, TV screens, tools, electrical and other equipment, transformers and network cables. general electricity.
It seized the building of an olive mill for Hajj Mustafa Mustafa, and turned it into a center for firewood trade, and imposed a royalty rate of 50%/ on the production of about 4,500/ thousand olive trees, walnuts, sumac and grapes for forcibly displaced families “Hamoush, Msti Klei, Msti Krei”, and it paid /5-15% on the remaining seasons of the residents.
It also excavated and excavated in historical sites "Qashla - south of the village, Hayrak - east and north of the village" in search of antiquities and stole them, and they cut almost completely of natural oak and coniferous forests in the vicinity of the village "Shaq Driz, Jurn Dodam, cemetery road...", using mechanisms Heavy, heavy logging and trading.
Also, a Kia pickup car was stolen from "Mohammed Hamo" in December 2020, after he parked it near Dersim Hospital in Afrin, close to an armed checkpoint.
The families were subjected to various types of violations, including kidnapping, arbitrary arrests, torture, material extortion, and others. About twenty were arrested and fines were imposed, including “Abdul Hamid Mustafa bin Hajj Mustafa / 40 years old”, who was forcibly disappeared since the summer of 2018 and was released Three years later, his taxi was confiscated.
= A landmine exploded on a citizen returning home:
On Monday, February 14, 2022 AD, a landmine from the remnants of the war exploded between the villages of "Sogank and Kemar" - Jabal Lelon / Sherwa, in the citizen "Mustafa Mustafa Arab, 53 years old", from the city of Afrin, while he was passing through the smuggling routes, where He decided to return from Aleppo to Afrin, due to the closure of all crossings between the two cities by the Turkish occupation on one side, and the Syrian regime on the other side; As he suffered severe injuries that cut his left leg below the knee, and his right hand was badly damaged, he is being treated in a hospital in Aleppo.
= Shelling "Tal Rifaat" and wounding civilians:
On Tuesday 15/2/2022 AD, and in the context of the exchange of fire between the areas controlled by the Syrian army and the areas of the Turkish occupation, the Turkish army bombed the city of Tal Rifaat, which is crowded with displaced people from Afrin, in the afternoon and in the evening, which led to material damage, and the injury of a woman and four children, "Nayrouz Muhammad Chalabi" / 38 / years old, Ibrahim Muhammad Abdo / 6 / years old, Siban Mustafa Bakr / 9 / years old, Ali Abdo / 13 / years old, Zilan Aref Qassem / 8 / years old, from Afrin residents, with varying injuries.
= Arbitrary arrests:
Occupation authorities arrested:
- About a month and a half ago, the citizen "Muhammad Hamo Bin (Mohammed - Jafarish), 57 years old, from the village of "Via", who resides in the city of Afrin and works as Samman in the Ashrafieh neighborhood, was arrested by the "civil police" in Rajo, on charges of having relations with the administration The previous self, after reviewing the police headquarters as part of its investigations with about 25 families who submitted complaints and demands to return to their village, which was displaced from all its residents due to the establishment of a Turkish military base in it since March 2018.
- On 9/2/2022 AD, the citizen "Mahmoud Rashid Abdo" from the village of "Kamruk" - Mabta / Ma'batli, residing in the Zaydiyah neighborhood in Afrin, on charges of having a relationship with the former Autonomous Administration; She was released on February 13, 2022 AD, after imposing heavy fines and bribes on him.
- On February 12, 2022 AD, the citizen "Aziz Muhammad Ma'mo / 30 years old" from the village of "Kila" - Bulbul, by the security checkpoint at the entrance to Afrin - Al-Mahmoudia neighborhood, while returning from the city to the village, and was taken to the headquarters of "Al-Siyasiyyah" - Turkish Intelligence”, and his fate is still unknown.
- On February 13, 2022 AD, the 30-year-old Nechirvan Amin Manan from the village of "Kemruk" - Mapta / Maabatli, residing in Istanbul, was arrested by the Turkish security, on charges of affiliation with the former Autonomous Administration. He was released on bail in 16/2/2022 AD.
- On February 16, 2022 AD, the citizen "Shaker Sheikho Sheikho / 35 years old" from the village of "Jalama" - Jindires, was killed by the "Al-Sham Legion" militia, and his fate is still unknown.
= Deforestation and logging:
By comparing two images taken by Google Earth of an artificial forest in 1980 AD at the site of "Deveyol-Marwaniya" - Jindires, with an estimated area of /50 / hectares, in (April 2016 AD before the occupation and exclusion, August 2020 AD after the occupation and exclusion), we note The percentage of pieces that took place for the purpose of firewood and trade exceeds 40%, especially since the pieces have continued (about two and a half years) until today.
And between two pictures of an artificial forest in 1980 AD at the site of Jabal Hamam - Jindires, in (April 2016 AD before the occupation and the cutting, September 2019 AD after the occupation and cutting), it is clear that an area estimated at 8 / hectares of the forest was bulldozed for the purpose of establishing a Turkish military base.
On the other hand, the militias recently cut down 20 perennial olive trees in the village of "Qila" - Jindires, belonging to the citizen "Faeq Sido", unfairly and almost completely.
= chaos and disorder:
- On Tuesday 15/2/2022 AD, an armed group in a car placed a packed quantity of explosives - as it was copper - in the hands of children recruited working in scrap collecting in the village of "Qajoma" - Jindires, and when they opened it, it exploded in them, injuring three of them. .
- Local opposition media published a story about the murder of the woman, "Maysa Al-Obeid in her thirties", in the Sheikh Al-Hadid district center, and explained that she is one of the recruits and is the second wife of the son-in-law of the so-called "Mohammed Al-Jassem Abu Amsha", and also published a picture of the report of the forensic doctor who The body was examined at the "Turkish Military Hospital" in Jindires, dated February 11, 2022 AD, indicating the presence of diagonal penetrating wounds in the chest and sharp wounds in the head.
The violations and crimes committed in Afrin are not limited to "Abu Amsha" and his companions, but are committed on a large scale by all militias associated with the Syrian-Brotherhood coalition and loyal to Turkey and under the supervision of its intelligence, and are not obscured by the formation of committees to respond to "grievances", cosmetic activities and false statements.
The Afrin Activists Network published on 19.02.2022
Three citizens were kidnapped by Turkish intelligence in the occupied city of Afrin.
Several local sources reported that the Turkish intelligence, accompanied by the so-called military police formed by it, had kidnapped three citizens in the center of Afrin city at different times.
The sources added that the kidnapped citizens are:
On Thursday, February 17, 2022, the citizen “Muhammad Afram”, 38 years old, from the al-Amirat clan, was arbitrarily kidnapped from his home in the old neighborhood of Afrin, without a clear charge of kidnapping him.
On February 11, 2022, the citizen “Mohammed Ga’af Rash Abu Mahmoud,” 57 years old, was kidnapped. He is from the village of Jiyeh / Jabaliya in Rajo district and works in a food store in the Ashrafieh neighborhood.
On January 15, 2022, the citizen “Mohammed Hassan Khalil,” 43 years old, was kidnapped from his home in the village of Basuta, the center of Afrin, and took him to Maratha Central Prison, and his fate is still unknown today.
Maabatli district, Afrin, November 2021
While the Violations Documentation Center mentioned in a detailed report 81 cases of arrests in Afrin by armed men loyal to Turkey during 2022
The armed groups supported by Turkey continue to carry out more arrests and kidnapping of civilians, as the rates of violence, crime, arrests, kidnappings, bombings, assassinations and unidentified bodies increased in the Afrin region and the entire areas controlled by the Turkish Armed Forces in northern Syria.
The Turkish forces and the Syrian armed groups supported by them under the name of the Syrian National Army and the security services associated with them continue to commit more violations, and they do not heed the calls to stop daily raids, arrest citizens, kidnap them for ransom, prevent their relatives from knowing where or why they are being held, and refuse to offer them on trial, and prevented them from hiring a lawyer.
Since the beginning of the current year 2022, the Afrin region has witnessed more than (81) arrests, and they are among the detainees whose names we were able to document, while the actual number is more, especially since there are names that their families have reserved to mention, in addition to cases of arrests that we were unable to access, The killing of civilians under torture, and multiple cases of violations were also monitored and documented.
Organized daily looting, seizing people’s homes and properties, olive harvests, cutting down trees and others, in addition to daily arbitrary arrests, kidnapping people as hostages for ransom, and harassment of the population have become prevalent in this area.
Unleashing the chaos of the military and dozens of terrorist groups, is a deliberate Turkish policy; But it is being carried out by the “Syrian armed groups” under the name of the “Syrian National Army” of the Syrian Interim Government/Coalition, and all of this is taking place under the eyes and participation of the Turkish forces.
The arrest of 52 civilians in Afrin during January 2022 by the Turkish-backed National Army.
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Pictures:
- The village of "Mist Ashura" - Mabta / Maabatli.
- Injured children in "Telrafat".
- Two pictures of the forest of the site "Deveyol = Marwaniya" - Jendires, in (April 2016 AD before the occupation and exclusion, August 2020 AD after the occupation and exclusion).
- Two photos of an artificial forest in 1980 AD at the site of Jabal Hamam - Jindires, in (April 2016 AD before the occupation and exclusion, September 2019 AD after the occupation and exclusion).
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Reporting sources:
- Report No. 186 issued by the media office of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria
-Afrin activists network
-Violations Documentation Center
- Human Rights Organization - Afrin