Arabic to English Translation*
In addition to the significant financial and in-kind levies imposed by the “Syrian National Army” militias on the olive harvest in Afrin—collected through coercion, threats, and the use of weapons—a so-called “security levy” (for monitoring points and patrols) was enforced. Militia leaders claimed these measures were implemented to protect property. However, evidence revealed that these measures were primarily aimed at monitoring the activities of Afrin residents during the harvest, forcing them to use olive presses within militia-controlled areas, and collecting in-kind levies directly. Furthermore, these measures provided cover for armed militia members, their families, and close associates to engage in theft. The thefts not only continued but were more extensive and widespread than in previous years. Olive owners were unable to prevent these actions by any means, nor could they file complaints against the thieves with Turkish occupation authorities, whether security or judicial. Many feared rejecting the imposed levies and, at times, resorted to selling personal belongings to pay them, in order to avoid further violations against them.
The following are facts about the current situation:
= The Olive Season:
Due to the limited transportation of olive oil from Turkish-controlled areas in northern Syria to the rest of the country, the high costs of this transport, and the exclusive export of olive oil through Turkey—where it is marketed internationally as a Turkish product under the control of “Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives – TARIM KREDI,” which monopolizes the market—the price of olive oil has dropped from approximately $100 per tin (16 kg net) to below $60 at the beginning of this season. The association, headquartered in Rifa’tiyah neighborhood in Jenderes, issued a price list for tins ranging between $42.5 and $57 per tin, which is less than half the global average price (exceeding $130 per tin), despite the growing international demand for olive oil. This situation allows Turkey to exploit Syria’s circumstances and the conditions it imposes to purchase Syrian olive oil at minimal prices and market it internationally as a Turkish product—a blatant and systematic act of theft.
In some desperate cases, or to pay extortion fees within olive presses besieged by militias—particularly in areas controlled by the “Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade”—olive oil tins are sold by their owners for as little as $35 each.
The so-called “Olive Branch Region Agricultural Chamber” issued Decision No. 55 on September 25, 2022, requiring olive oil traders to obtain a “trader’s license” for an annual fee of $350 and to deliver the oil to TARIM KREDI.
Notable Violations:
■ Abu Amsha’s Extortion Fees:
The “Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade” militias, led by “Muhammad Al-Jassem/known as Abu Amsha,” continues to plunder the olive season using armed force. Notable incidents include:
– Following the scandal of suppressing a women’s protest in the village of Kakhreh-Mobato/Maabatli on September 15, 2024, the militia reduced the extortion fee per olive tree in absentee fields from $8 to $6, forcing citizens to sign pledges to pay. Recently, the brigade confiscated vehicles and olive oil from those unable to pay, leading to the forced displacement of an elderly woman, “Halima Hamrasho /80/ years old,” from her village to Aleppo because she couldn’t pay $7,000 in extortion fees on her sons’ fields. The militia seized her home and all her belongings. The earnings from the people’s season aren’t enough to pay the extortions, so they are forced to sell some of their belongings in order to cover up the fees.
The entire yield of 400 olive trees belonging to the absent citizen “Ismail Hassan” was confiscated, without compensation for two years of agricultural service costs provided by the late “Sheikh Muhammad Abdo Abbo,” who passed away from a stroke on September 5, 2024, under pressure to vacate Ismail’s home, where his family resided.
– The militia brutally assaulted and humiliated “Abdo Kamal Kuneh /46/ years old” in public in his village, “Sanoreh” – Sheikh Al-Hadid, for failing to pay a $20,000 olive extortion fee, despite surrendering his car and tractor to the “Amshat” headquarters in an attempt to meet their demands.
– Oil sales within the sector are monopolized for a few traders, each required to pay $10,000 for permission to trade. In Shiyeh/Sheikh Al-Hadid district alone, only six traders—“Mustafa Dawood, Hussein Khalil Sheikho, Ahmed Jamil Sheikho, Mustafa Hureik, Kamiran Ibrahim Ramadan”—are allowed to operate.
– Saif Al-Jassem, Abu Amsha’s brother, forces absentee citizens’ representatives in “Jaqalo” villages (Sheikh Al-Hadid district) to process their harvest at a designated press (Rafar Bijo press), taking 30% of the press’s share. When some citizens-“Mohammad Akkash Dawood, Azzat Mustafa Habash, Mustafa Mohammad Habash, Mustafa Rashid Mahmoud“-objected due to prior commitments with other presses, they were beaten severely by “Abu Omar Al-Khaldy” and some elements from the “Amshat” militia.
– Residents of “Hasseh/Mirkan” village – Mobato/Maabatli, were recently threatened via WhatsApp voice messages by the villages mukhtar to pay extortion fees at the local office of “Abu Walid” under threat of consequences.
■ In Maydanki town, controlled by factions like the “Sultan Murad Brigade, Jaysh Al-Nukhba, Faylaq Al-Sham, Al-Muatasim Brigade and Rijal Al-Harb,” large-scale thefts occurred under the pretext of delayed permission for harvest. A 50% extortion fee was imposed on absentee-owned fields and 10% on fields owned by present residents.
■ In “Kafr Zeeteh and Tilifeh” – southwest of Afrin, the “Hamzat Brigade” imposes extortion fees of $30 per productive tree belonging to absentee owners and $2 per productive tree for present residents, along with $0.5 for non-productive trees for present owners, in addition to the fields seized by them that belongs to the absentees. They also charge $2 per tree for pruning permits.
The brigade stole /105/ sacks of olives (each weighing ~90 kg) from fields managed by the teacher “Juma Hamo” on behalf of his absent in-laws.
■ In the town of “Kafr Safreh”, the “Waqas Brigade” militias have imposed extortion fees amounting to approximately $150,000 on around /200/ olive sapling nurseries owned by local residents. These fees are set at $1,500 per nursery containing /50,000/ saplings and $500 for smaller nurseries. Additionally, the brigade imposes a fee of $2 per flatland olive tree and $1 per mountainous olive tree, regardless of their condition, along with an extra charge in Turkish lira for issuing harvest permits for each field.
■ On November 7, 2024, a man named “Wasim, originally from Maarat Harma in Idlib,” Governorate and the head of the Economic Office for the Hamzat Brigade, sent threatening audio messages to the mukhtars of villages in the Raju district, including “Haj Khalil.” In these messages, he demanded that olive field owners promptly pay the required extortion fees and report the names of those who refuse to comply.
■ In the village of “Mosako” (Raju district), a man known as “Abu Hayat,” originally from Qalamoun in the Damascus countryside and a leader in the “Ninth Brigade,” resides in a confiscated house. Accompanied by armed men, he roams the olive fields, directly imposing in-kind extortion fees ranging from /0.5 to 5/ sacks of olives per owner for his personal benefit, in addition to the extortion fees already imposed by the “Ninth Brigade.”
■ In the Bulbul district, “Adnan Al-Khuwailid/Abu Walid Al-Izza, the Economic Office head for the Sultan Murad Brigade,” compelled residents of several villages—including “Kotana, Qara Guleh, Bibaka, Khalilka, Quita, Kureh, Ashuna, Zivinkeh, and part of the village of Deekeh”—to provide property deeds issued by the Land Registry Office in Aleppo to prove ownership of their fields. While most were forced to obtain these documents with great difficulty, others had to pay additional extortion fees. Furthermore, a harvesting schedule was set for each village, resulting in delays for some, which left their fields vulnerable to further thefts.
■ In the village of “Satiya” (Jenderes district), members of the “Hamzat Brigade” looted the entire harvest of /500/ olive trees belonging to forcibly displaced resident “Rustam Ahmed” and his brothers. This was done under the pretext of their absence, despite the fields being managed by one of their brothers still residing in the village. No consideration was given to two years’ worth of agricultural service expenses.
■ At checkpoints managed by the “Military Police” militia in the Raju district, overseen by a man known as “Abu Hassan” (from Daraa and affiliated with the Hamzat Brigade), extortion fees disguised as “tips” are imposed on every sack of olives or tin of olive oil transported through these checkpoints, whether entering or leaving the area. These checkpoints operate under the “Military Police Branch in Bulbul,” headed by a man named “Abu Aziz.”
= Arbitrary Arrests:
– On the evening of November 1, 2024, in Gaziantep, where he has resided with his family for years, Turkish security forces arrested the artist “Hanan Mohammed Sini /50/ years old,” a native of the town of “Badino” – Raju. He was detained on his way home after attending a wedding celebration, allegedly due to an issue with his residency status. He remains in detention, and his family fears he may be forcibly deported to Syria.
– On November 6, 2024, the “Military Police in Bulbul” militia arrested two civilians, “Walid Mohammed Nouri Kayali /42/ years old” and “Idris Nouri Osman /40/ years old,” from the town of Maydanki. The reasons for their detention were not disclosed, and they remain in arbitrary detention. It is worth noting that “Kayali” had previously been detained on charges of ties to the former Autonomous Administration.
= Chaos and Lawlessness:
– On November 4, 2024, in front of “Kabso” Restaurant in central Afrin, an armed individual driving a Santa Fe jeep opened fire on “Suleiman Ezzedine /37/ years old, originally from the village of Batrana in Tal Al-Daman – southern rural Aleppo,” wounding him severely before fleeing. Local media sources suggest the attack was linked to an old vendetta.
– On the evening of November 13, 2024, in Afrin, a military standoff and tension erupted between groups of armed individuals from Damascus’s countryside and others from the neighboring towns of Hayyan and Bayanoun in northern rural Aleppo. Gunfire was exchanged, snipers took positions on residential buildings, and stray projectiles fell among civilians. The clashes reportedly followed an assault on a woman from Damascus, who was subsequently hospitalized.
– On November 15, 2024, tensions flared among armed groups from the Al-Muwali tribe after an eight-year-old girl from one of their families was killed by a stray bullet. The shot was fired by members of the “Sultan Mohammad Al-Fateh Brigade” militia during a confrontation with an unknown armed group transporting stolen olives in a van that bypassed a checkpoint without stopping. The child was residing in a nearby tent when the incident occurred.
All these incidents, along with the current practices during this olive harvest season, demonstrate a systematic pattern shared across various militias: the imposition of exorbitant extortion fees and the looting of as much revenue as possible by force of arms. This clearly exposes a methodical and hostile policy aimed at impoverishing the region’s residents and coercing them into forced migration, under the direct guidance and supervision of Turkish intelligence.
16.11.2024
Media Office-Afrin
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekiti)
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Images:
– A price list for olive oil in Afrin, issued by the “Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives” in Jenderes.
– Decision No. 55, dated September 25, 2022, issued by the so-called “Agricultural Chamber of the Olive Branch Region,” mandating the licensing of olive oil traders.
– A checkpoint operated by the “Military Police” militia at the southern entrance of Raju town, and the so-called “Abu Hassan and Abu Aziz.”
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* Under the supervision of the European Organization of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekîtî).
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