Reports monitor new Turkish plan to settle Afrin
The Turkish occupiers and their militias continue their
crimes against the people of Afrin, including killing, kidnapping and torturing
of civilians, even women and the elderly, in the most horrific ways, in
addition to imposing royalties and ransoms on civilians despite the Turkish-imposed
blockade preventing the export of their crops except by way of Turkey.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that the
people in the village of Basila in the countryside of Afrin northwest of
Aleppo, formed a delegation and went to the headquarters of the Afrin governor
appointed by the Turkish forces, demanding that they be allowed to return to
their homes in the village, which has been completely emptied of civilians and
controlled by the pro-Turkish Levant Front militia after it looted the houses. But
the Turkish governor has refused to meet the people’s delegation.
The Afrin Activists Network (AAN) also mentioned that the
Erdogan terrorist militia cut down trees and ignited fires in wooded areas and
olive groves so that they could sell their own firewood easily, as part of
Ankara’s systematic policy to eliminate the vegetation in Afrin.
Reliable information and pictures from AAN sources were
published about the Turkish goal of changing the demographics of Afrin, in the
event a solution is reached that would allow the people to return to their city
and force the occupiers to leave, by giving the settlers state lands that were
previously in the hands of the Syrian regime. This is accomplished by cutting
down forests and other trees to build homes, while the lands of displaced Kurds
are being seized for the same purpose.
The AAN monitored the occurrence of murders and tortures, as
well as 44 kidnappings of unarmed citizens, including four women and a child. The
Turkish-backed forces also burned about 9,000 olive trees in 45 locations and
looted the area’s ancient ruins.
In one case of torture, Erdogan’s terrorist militias broke
into the home of 50-year-old tailor Abdel Qadid bin Jalal Ibrahim in the center
of Afrin on July 15 and beat the man, but he managed to escape and seek
treatment at a hospital.
Earlier, seven human rights organizations in Syria issued a joint
statement regarding the victims of attacks and crimes committed by the Turkish
occupation forces, which read, “We remain the organizations defending human
rights in Syria in the context of our work monitoring, following up, documenting
and publishing all violations committed on Syrian soil by the Turkish aggressor
forces and armed collaborators in the northern Syrian regions of Idlib, Aleppo and
Afrin, and the spread of terrorist operations in Deir Ezzor, Hama, Homs, and Daraa
by armed ISIS elements and by elements belonging to several terrorist factions
deployed in various regions, in addition to the violations committed by several
governmental and non-governmental parties.”
“In addition to the victims of mine explosions planted in
various regions, terrorist explosions, assassinations, indiscriminate shelling
of defenseless civilians, and forced disappearances, which led to an increase
in cases of destruction and sabotage to many infrastructure, service and health
facilities, including water and electricity stations, and burning and sabotaging
lands, homes and shops. These attacks have resulted in many deaths and injuries
among civilians, children, women and the elderly,” the statement added.
