Under the umbrella of the Turkish occupation, the Sultan Murad group, led by Faheem Issa, is digging in the hill of the village of Khalilik in search of antiquities
Special / Geostrategic Network for Studies
In broad daylight and in full view of the international community, and under the auspices of the Turkish occupation army, which trained and supervised the armed groups of the Syrian opposition (mercenaries), excavations and excavations are taking place in search of antiquities in the Afrin region, as this Syrian Kurdish region is crowded with historical sites, hills and archaeological tombs.
The theft and search operations in these archaeological sites are carried out under the supervision of "Turkish antiquities experts" who provided the Syrian mercenary groups with military engineering equipment, which successively arrived in the Afrin region to supervise the excavation operations, where these groups work under their direct supervision to transport and smuggle everything they find inside Turkish lands.
During the past five years, these groups focused on excavations and research in various archaeological sites for which the Afrin region is famous, such as the “Dodriyeh Cave”, “Ain Dara” and “Sirous”, and the sites registered on the World Heritage List preserved by (UNESCO) by default. It also extended to the archaeological hills in many locations, in addition to the exhumation of ancient cemeteries scattered in the villages of Afrin countryside, causing collapse and great damage to those cemeteries and historical sites.
Special sources confirmed to the geostrategist inside Afrin, "The Turkish occupation army is directing the Syrian mercenaries to search for antiquities in order to sell them to Turkish antiquities dealers for a low price, at a time when the Turkish occupation forces are seeking to control the artifacts that preserve the history of the region and its Syrian Kurdish identity."
The sources also reported to the Geostrategist in Afrin that “the militants of the notorious (Sultan Murad Brigade), who are supported by the Turkish occupation army, began digging and razing the soil in search of antiquities and finds in the village of “Khalilak” in Bulbulah district in the Afrin region, where they dig using equipment Haditha that was provided to them by the Turkish occupation forces that support them in the region and directly supervise these operations.
In a private communication to one of the members of the so-called Sultan Murad division with special sources of the geostrategist, he confirmed, "The members of the division, under the supervision of the deputy leader of the division, "Fahim Issa," went three days ago to the village of Khalilak in Bulbul district, after special maps were received by Turkish authorities for the division about The presence of traces in a hill in the village, and the members of the division began digging in the hill located between the trees, after cutting down a number of trees and expanding the area of the place, and bringing in a bulldozer and a packer, where the digging took place in broad fire.
The same element confirmed, "We did not disclose his name for security reasons related to the safety of his life," that the search and excavation operations for antiquities are taking place under the supervision of some Turkish officers, and they have a large share in what is found.
The location of the village of Khalilak in the countryside of Afrin, and the triangle in orange indicates the location of the hill that was recently excavated.
Since their control of the city of Afrin in March 2018, these mercenary groups affiliated with the Turkish occupation have carried out excavations and theft of antiquities and sent them to Turkish lands, in different areas of the villages and towns of the Afrin region, where excavation and sale of these antiquities is a good economic resource for them, without any accountability. By virtue of these groups, they control the decision-making and the councils, and no party can object to them, and that the municipal councils managed by the Turkish occupation are still limited to serving these groups and justifying their crimes against the people, property and antiquities.
Moreover, local authorities and human rights reports documented the search and excavation operations carried out by these groups during the past five years, as dozens of them were subjected to bulldozing, destruction, theft and looting, and exceeded more than 120 sites among monuments, hills, shrines and historical religious places, and human rights sources and Athar confirm that the extent of damage It is very large, as the operations resulted from the illegal extraction of thousands of artifacts, their theft and smuggling to Turkish lands through complex and organized networks under the supervision of Turkish intelligence on the occupied Syrian lands, and within Turkish lands.”
We mention some of these sites:
Ain Dara Temple. The city of Afrin classified on the list of UNESCO / Nabi Hori. Shara also classified on the list of UNESCO / Sheikh Hamid shrine in Qastal Jindo - Shara / Bavlon shrine - Shara / Qara Jarn shrine - Shara / Sinka village shrine - Shara / Sheikh Hanan shrine near Mashuleh Shrine of Abd al-Rahman near the village of Kani Kawarka, Janders road, shrine of Iska village - Janders, Amphitheater of the Prophet Hori, Shera, Tell Deirswan, Shera, Arab Shekho, Shera, Tel Kfarum, Shera, Mount Barsa, Shera, Tell Omara, Baarafa. Shera / Ashq Qibar village - Afrin city / Esther village hill - Afrin city / Hammam village and the transfer of a room from the spa stones - Jenderesah / Albiska village in Rajo district / Kura village well - Ragotel town of Maidan Ikbis. Raju / the ruins of the village of Sidyanika and its transfer to Turkey - Janders / its well between the villages of Kura - Sheikh Bilal - Raju / shrine of Sheikhmos in the village of Kaunda - Raju / Tell Simalek - Raju / Khirbet Alou in the village of Jubana - Janders / the ruins of the village of Korba - Janders / Tal Janders under the pretext of establishing a military headquarters and helipad / Kharab Raza in the village of Tarmosha - Shih / Tell Zarafka - Mobata / the ruins of the village of Arabo. Mobata / Tell Ain Hajra - Mobata / Tell Katakh - Mobata / Tell Dromieh - Mobata / Tell Kamrukha - Mobata / Mazar Yaghmur Dada - Bulbulah / Tell Abidan - Bulbulh / Antiquities of Barada Village - Sherawa / Antiquities of Kimar Village - Sherawa / Tell Burj Abdalu - Shirawa / Dodri Cave - Shirawa.
In conclusion, this problem poses a serious dilemma in the destruction of the region's antiquities, and looting them without accountability, and perhaps the past five years were sufficient for these groups to carry out dangerous acts to steal historical antiquities in Afrin, under the auspices of the Turkish intelligence and army, which protects these acts of vandalism against the antiquities of Syria.
