On the seventh anniversary of the Turkish occupation of Afrin, the Turkish state was urged to leave Afrin where grave crimes have been committed and 75 percent of the local population has been displaced.
People from Afrin-Shehba Canton made a press statement in Tabqa city where they took shelter after the invasion of their lands by the Turkish state and allied mercenaries.
The press statement on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of Afrin’s occupation was read by Îbrahîm Şêxo, a member of the Syria-Afrin Human Rights Organization, at the stadium where IDPs from Afrin and Shehba are sheltered.
Şêxo noted that since 2018, when the Turkish state and allied mercenaries occupied Afrin, 75 percent of the local population has been displaced. Since the first day, he added, the occupiers have committed numerous crimes in Afrin, including kidnapping, murder, theft, plunder, torture and kidnapping for ransom.
Îbrahîm Şêxo called on the United Nations and all international organizations to fulfill their duties and responsibilities to stop the crimes committed by the Turkish state and affiliated mercenaries in the occupied territories, and to put pressure on the invaders to leave Afrin and other occupied territories.
Şêxo further called for the perpetrators of crimes to be called to account and for the displaced people to be able to return home safely and honorably.
Îbrahîm Şêxo also called on the international community to put pressure on the occupiers so that the increasingly ongoing attacks on North-East Syria, mainly at the Tishrin Dam, Qereqozaq Bridge and Kobanê countryside, are halted.
Şêxo announced the balance sheet of the crimes committed by the occupiers in Afrin-Shehba Canton in 2024 as follows:
Kidnapping: 650 people, including 59 women and 10 children, were kidnapped.
Murder, assassination, suicide: 64 people, 7 of whom were women, were murdered, and 3 women committed suicide.
Torture and injury: 56 people, including 2 children, 8 women and 2 elderly people, were tortured and injured.
Tree cutting and burning: More than 10,360 trees were cut down, 597 hectares of land and more than 6,000 trees were burned down.
Demographic change (Ethnic cleansing): 15 settlements and a school building were built by the South Korean company JTS.
Property sales: The occupiers sold 16 properties they had confiscated.
Property confiscation: In the village of Kaxirê, the property of Kurdish residents was confiscated and forcibly handed over to Al-Amshad mercenaries as ransom.
Olive plunder: In all the villages of Afrin, olives and products were stolen by mercenary groups and those settled in the city. More than 3,500 olive trees in Qerzehîlê village and more than 700 olive trees in Qîbarê village were plundered.
Tribute collection: The most common practice imposed on the people of Afrin last year was extortion. In Meydana village of Rajo, 4,500 tins of olive oil were seized from 900 Kurdish families as tribute. In Gimrokê village of Mabata, 250 thousand dollars were taken from the people. In the villages in Shiye, 60 thousand dollars and in Qermitlik village, 70 thousand dollars were taken from the people by force.
