Arabic to English Translation*
Under the supervision and directives of Turkish intelligence, militias of the “Syrian National Army” are recalculating their “economic” strategies to exploit current opportunities and seize money today rather than tomorrow. These militias, which seized “spoils of invasion” under the banner of “Manifest Victory” during the aggression on Afrin in 2018, continue to impose exorbitant tributes on Kurdish residents of Afrin under various pretexts, supported by fatwas from the Syrian Islamic Council-Istanbul and so-called “Revolutionary Legitimacy” figures. They engage in theft and looting using various methods and tools.
Below are details of the prevailing situations:
= Assault on an elderly man and his son:
On April 6, 2024, while citizen “Farid Sulaiman Hesso /60/ years old” and his son “Mohammed /17/ years old,” from the village of “Kakhreh/Yakhour” – Mobato/Ma’abatli, were present in their olive grove near the village of “Cholaqa” – Jindaris, intending to plow, “Mohammed” was attacked by two young shepherds from the newcomers carrying knives, demanding they remove their sheep as they were grazing on the olive trees, particularly the young ones. The attackers later went to the headquarters of the “Hamzat Division” militias in the village and brought two more members, returning to assault “Mohammed” by beating him viciously with sticks and stones, as well as his elderly father when he attempted to intervene. “Mohammed” suffered bleeding from his nose and mouth, fainted while sitting behind the tractor, and his father sustained bruises and a cut on his neck, a dislocated shoulder, and other injuries despite pleading for mercy, then they were taken to a hospital in Afrin by two of their relatives where their health condition stabilized. The Military Police militias announced the arrest of two out of the four attackers and published their photos without disclosing their names.
= Assault on youths in “Moroteh”:
On the second day of Eid al-Fitr on April 11, 2024, due to harassment by young men from the newcomers, a brawl broke out between them and youths from the village of “Moroteh” – west of Afrin city in the middle of the village, with armed individuals from the “Hamzat Division” checkpoint and the village official named “Walid al-Debo from Harim – Idlib countryside”, firing live ammunition. The youths’ parents were forced to defend their sons, resulting in two of them being injured by knife attacks. One of the minors, “Wesam Abdul Rahman Dh Do /16/ years old,” was taken to a hospital in Afrin for treatment. The “Hamzat Division” detained three individuals for hours. The situation remains tense with intervention by the “Military Police militias in Afrin”.
Such assaults on Kurdish civilians, especially the elderly and youth, by armed newcomers, persist due to racial and hateful motives.
= Model settlement villages with Palestinian names:
In the context of constructing model settlement villages in Afrin to allocate fixed properties to newcomers and solidify demographic change in the region, several have been built through “donations from villages and towns in Palestine 48”, facilitated by Palestinian Islamic associations and figures, Israeli banks, and under Turkish institutions’ supervision:
– “Basma” complex south of the village of “Shadireh” – Sheirawa, inaugurated in two phases: the first on October 4, 2021, with /96/ residential units, and the second on March 22, 2022, with /125/ residential units, ongoing expansion by the “White Hands Association – Turkey” funded by the “Dignified Living Society – Palestine 48.” It’s named after the “Basma” local council representing three villages (Muawiya, Ain al-Sahla, Bartaa) near Haifa.
– “Um Tuba” Village, south of “Basma,” opened on May 8, 2023, by the “White Hands Association – Turkey” funded by the “Dignified Living Society – Palestine 48,” named after the “Um Tuba” village southeast of Jerusalem.
– “Al-Zaeim” Village southwest of Jindaris city, opened its first phase on August 28, 2022, by the “Wafa Al-Muhsinin Charitable Foundation” licensed in Turkey since 2018, in the presence of the “Sheikh Anbar Mosque Committee” from the village of “Al-Zaeim” – east of Jerusalem.
– “Ajnadain” Village east of Jindaris city, inaugurated on January 4, 2023, by the “Idlib Homeland Team” and funded by the “Palestinian Ajnadain Association,” named after the Battle of Ajnadain which occurred near the Ramla village – northwest of Jerusalem.
– Villages like “Sour Baher, Beit Hanina, Al-Eisawiya, Deir Yassin” within the “AL-Amal Land 2” project, whose first phase opened on May 4, 2023, (attended by Sheikh Khalil Umaira and Dr. Khalid Abdel Rabeh, representatives of two Palestinian villages), continued by the “Global Relief and Development Agency (Insar)” licensed in Turkey since 2011, near the “Gobaleh/Mount Leelon” farm, about (/7/ km eyesight distance) southeast of Afrin, named after villages and towns around Jerusalem.
– “Ashbal Beit Al-Maqdis” Village west of Jindaris city, opened on October 8, 2023, by the “Sadakataşı – Al-Sadaqah Stone” Turkish Association, with donations from Palestinian Islamic activist Ibrahim Khalil, in collaboration with “Albairaq Association, Dignified Living Society, Taranhamou – Grains of Goodness.”
In addition to, mosques have been built bearing Palestinian names.
= “Al-Nur” settlement village:
On April 2, 2024, the “Weefaq humanitarian Foundation” announced the opening of the “Al-Nur Residential Complex Project” near Jindaris city, with /48/ apartments as the first phase, where the project consists of (/416/ apartments in /26/ buildings, each apartment covering /65/ square meters, including a mosque, school, service administration, gardens, roads, and public facilities), with electricity, water, and sanitation services secured.
The project began following the February 2023 earthquake that accelerated the pace of settlement village construction on /23,000/ square meters of agricultural land north of Jindaris and east of the “Yalanqoz/Al-Rehan” village, after most of the over /300/ olive trees aged /50/ years were uprooted. The state previously restricted home construction in agricultural lands to a very limited extent.
According to its website, the “Weefaq” foundation is licensed in Turkey, chaired by “Taysir Mufid” and its executive director “Mohammed Khaled Awama,” intensifying shelter activities since 2018 in conjunction with the Turkish occupation of the area. The foundation acknowledges “execution standards” through protocols with local authorities (local councils – Afad Turkish Organization) and transferring and documenting money through Turkey.
Simultaneously, public electricity networks were immediately extended to the project, while dozens of villages and towns in the Jindaris district are deprived of public electricity due to theft and sabotage of their networks by militias in 2018, with no restoration efforts made.
It is noted that /15/ settlement villages made of bricks and cement were built solely around Jindaris city under Turkish supervision, alongside camps.
= Demographic Changes in Bulbul District:
According to a local statistical source in Balbul District, which comprises /43/ villages, the population of indigenous Kurds stands at /9,174/ individuals. The number of newcomers resettled after the occupation of Afrin in March 2018 reached /18,507/ Arabs and /2,561/ Turkmen. This shift reduced the Kurdish proportion from 100% to 30% of the total population of /30,242/. Prior to the occupation, the district had around /35,000/ residents out of approximately /66,000/ registered in the Syrian civil registry by the end of 2017. This indicates the displacement of nearly /26,000/ people forcibly due to the military operation carried out by Turkey under the name “Operation Olive Branch” on January 20, 2018, preventing the majority of displaced civilians from returning.
= Arbitrary Arrests:
Occupation authorities arrested:
– On March 23, 2024, Turkish intelligence and “Military Police” militias detained the citizen “Mohammed Hussein son of Hussein /65/ years old” from “Gamruok” village – Mobato/Ma’batli, from his home in Afrin city, alleging his membership in the neighborhood committee during the previous autonomous-administration. He was released on April 7, 2024, after a fine was imposed on him and his family paid bribes, even though he had returned from destination of displacement in Aleppo to his home more than six months ago.
– On April 2, 2024, Turkish intelligence and Ma’batli Police militias detained the citizen “Shukri Ahmed Oso /48/ year old ” from Gamruok village, alleging his involvement in night patrols during the previous autonomous-administration. He was released two days later in Afrin after a $500 fine was imposed on him.
= “Hawks of the North/Souqoor Al-Shamal” tributes:
The militias of the “Hawks of the North Division,” which controls more than 11 villages in Ma’batli, Balbul, and Sharan areas, led by “Hassan Khairiyeh from Kansafra village – Mount Zawiya” represented by “Captain Yusuf Hamoud,” have opened an office to receive complaints and hand over property to returning civilians. The office is led by “Al-Sheikh Ibrahim,” who decides whether to return properties to their rightful owners or not and imposes three or four dollars on each olive tree handed over to its owner, apart from the tributes imposed on homes, shops, and establishments.
– Economic elements of the division, known as “Abu Istif from Ming town – Aleppo, Abu Tawfiq from Atarib town – Idlib, and Abu Hazem from Al-Ghab – Hama,” force Kurdish tractor owners to plow the lands and olive fields they seize for free and confiscate their harvests.
– After the elderly agricultural engineer, “Farouk Sheikho,” from the village of “Draqlio,” returning to his homeland from the destination of displacement, Aleppo, demanded the return of his property (a shop, a house, and olive fields), one of the leaders of the division framed him for “insulting the National Army” and arrested him on March 31, 2024, and handed him over to the military police in Afrin, but they released him hours later due to exposing the injustice he suffered on social media.
= “Al-Hamzat Division” tributes:
The “Al-Hamzat Division” militias, led by “Saif Abu Bakr”, who is subjected to US sanctions, and which controls the villages and towns of “Aindara, Basuteh, Keemareh, Burj Abdallo, Kfeireh, Kafr Zeeteh, Telefeh, Frereya, Koukabeh, Andariyah, Faqeero, Korka, Julaqo, Kafrdalleh Fawqani and Tahtani, Gundi Mazn, Gazeh, Satiyo, Moroteh, KafrPetreh, Bouzeekeh, Petaiteh, Kafrsheeleh, Khalnaireh, Joqeh” – the vicinity of the city of Afrin and “Qaddah, Mousakeh, Barbaneh, Gulio Fawqani and Tahtani” – Raju, and some villages in Bulbul district, and others. … It counts the properties and sorts it again (present, agencies, seized), and the seized property is not returned to its owners if they are present except after procrastination and long investigations with the imposition of financial tributes on it. The property of absentees, for which documents and shares of the absent heirs are not available, is considered among the agencies. In the past, it imposed a tribute of up to 50% of the seasonal production, but at the beginning of this year it is working to sell the upcoming seasons to the agencies’ properties with a guarantee (selling the season’s production in advance, without providing any agricultural service) to whoever manages it, and if he refuses to pay, it sells it with a guarantee to whomever it chooses, For example:
– It sells the production of olive fields – agencies in the villages of “Barbaneh, Golia Fawqani and Tahtani” for two years (one season) for $6 per tree.
– In the village of Burj Abdallo, it guaranteed this year’s season (/500/ pomegranate trees, /500/ peach trees, /20/ dunams of agricultural land) belonging to the absent citizen “Zakaria Rifaat Osso” with $4,000 US dollars to one of its recruiters from Darat Azza countryside. And the season of /200/ pear trees belonging to the forcibly displaced “Mustafa Muhammad Sido”, for two thousand dollars to one of the recruiters.
= Other Violations:
– In mid-March last year, an armed man stole a motorcycle belonging to citizen “Nazmi Mustafa” from his home in “Mosako” village – Raju. His father “Nuri” lodged a complaint with the military headquarters of the “Ninth Division” militia in the village, but the security official named “Ahmed Mabki” coldly blamed the theft on the low walls of their home and took no action.
– On March 31, 2024, armed thieves stole /24/ tin plates of olive oil (each weighing 16 kg net), a laptop, and surveillance cameras and other items from the olive press belonging to the late Hussein Hassan Khalil’s sons in “Aghjaleh” village – Jindaris. About a week earlier, around /700/ meters of 4-inch hoses belonging to “Mustafa Mahmoud/Mamie Khalia” were stolen from the same village.
– Recently, the “Hamzat Division” militias leveled the roof of the archaeological Burj Abdallo hill, previously vandalized and dug up for its treasures, and paved over the remains of the quarries to build a restaurant and cafeteria for their leader “Saif Abu Bakr.”
– Furthermore, the “Ahrar Al-Sharqiya Division” installed surveillance cameras in villages under its control in Raju district like “Shadia, Kouro, Haj Khalil, Qasim”…. and others, citing security reasons. This violates the sanctity of homes in many places, with costs imposed solely on Kurds among the residents of these villages, especially homeowners where cameras are installed on their doors.
No ethical principles, laws, regulations, or political/administrative entities deter the Syrian Coalition-Islamic militias from practicing violations and committing crimes against the Afrin area and its residents.
13.04.2024
Media Office-Afrin
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekiti)
——————
Images:
– Elderly “Farid Sulaiman Hesso” and his son “Mohammed” who were assaulted.
– The assailants of the elderly “Farid” and his son.
– Settlement complex “Al-Amal Land 2” and names of Palestinian villages.
– “Al-Nur” Residential settlement Project.
– “Hassan Khairiya” leading the “Hawks of the North Division” militias.
– “Saif Abu Bakr” leading the “Hamzat Division” militias, with “Hassan al-Hamada” Defense Minister of the “Interim Syrian Government.”
– “Ahmed Mabki” the security official of the “Ninth Division” militias in Mosako village – Raju.
—————-
* Under the supervision of the European Organization of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekîtî).
————
You can download the full file by clicking here: