Arabic to English Translation*
Afrin region has recently witnessed the evacuation of several fortified Turkish security centers and the dismantling of their equipment and installations, carried out under media silence and without any statement regarding the final fate of Turkey’s actual security and military control. The Turkish flag remains raised over many official buildings, and military bases in the villages of Jilbireh, Kafr Jannah, Darwish, and Cheh/Jabaliya, among others, remain intact. Moreover, remnants of the so-called “Syrian National Army” militias, along with many of their headquarters and camps, continue to operate, relying on Turkish intelligence to carry out violations and to maintain control over numerous properties and real estate belonging to local residents.
The following are facts about the current situation:
= Assaults on Civilians:
– Shortly before midnight on Friday, September 12, 2025, armed men in a taxi stopped citizen “Ahmad Zaki Manan /40/ years old,” from the village of “Miskeh Fuqani,” on the Sindanka–Jenderes bypass road. They forced him out of his pickup truck loaded with food supplies, gagged him, and rendered him unconscious. He later found himself about /1/ km away, exhausted and bearing signs of beatings and bruises. The assailants stole all the food supplies, along with $800 in cash and a mobile phone. According to a local source, such highway robbery incidents frequently recur on that road.
– At midnight yesterday, near the junction of the deserted village of “Ja’naka” on the Rajo–Maydono road, a group of five armed men on two motorcycles intercepted a microbus. They forced out its driver, “Hanan Hishko /63/ years old,” the mukhtar of the village of “Kureh/Sheikh Muhammadli” – Maydono, along with eight passengers from the Majand family of the village of “Adamo.” The attackers beat and insulted them, injuring the elderly driver, smashed the bus windows, slashed its tires, and robbed them of their belongings (around 80 grams of gold, $1,700, and seven mobile phones, including jewelry forcibly taken from children’s ears). They left the victims in a state of terror and fled the scene.
It is noteworthy that “Hanan Hishko” works as a passenger driver between Afrin and Aleppo and was transporting this family returning from Turkey to their village that night. A similar armed robbery occurred at the same location on July 22, 2025, without the General Security Service being able to uncover the circumstances of the crime or apprehend the perpetrators.
= Random Arrests:
– On the morning of Tuesday, September 2, 2025, during the funeral of the late Niyazi Kadro from the Haji Seedeh family in the town of Kafr Safra – Jenderes, a General Security patrol arrested citizens “Idris Khalil Kadro /42/ years old and his brother Rashid /41/ years old. ” A third relative, “Muhammad Hussein Kadro,” managed to flee. The three had traveled from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo to attend the funeral and were accused of having links with the Autonomous Administration. The detainees were released after two days.
Following the arrests, the family canceled the memorial gathering originally planned for the deceased.
– On September 3, 2025, the General Security Service arrested citizen “Butan Qazqli Hassan /35/ years old from the Hask family” of the village “Yalanquz” – Jenderes, after returning from Turkey with his family. He remains in arbitrary detention.
– On September 5, 2025, the General Security Service arrested citizen “Hassan Ibrahim Jillo /26/ years old” from the village of “Qantariyeh”– Mobato/Maabatli, upon his return from displacement since 2018. The phones of his close relatives were also confiscated. No reasons for the arrest were provided, and he remains in arbitrary detention at the local center.
= Thefts:
– On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at midday, while “Rashid Marwan Beko /25/ years old” was visiting a relative’s house south of Jenderes city, on the road to the village of Muhammadiyah, two armed individuals stole his modern motorcycle parked in front of the house. When a local citizen attempted to intervene, the assailants brandished their weapon and fled.
= Economic Committee:
The Economic Committee, established months ago by the regional director, along with its branches in the subdistricts, has begun receiving complaints from citizens seeking the return of properties seized by armed groups and incoming civilians. However:
– Several leaders of militias known as the “Syrian National Army” continue to control tens of thousands of olive trees on the estates of absent owners, preventing their retrieval by agents or relatives. Others demand fees to allow the harvest of this year’s olive crop.
– Some officials of the militia economic offices, many of whom are now members of the new economic committees, move freely in the area and provoke returning residents (especially those who returned after December 8, 2024). They demand that residents present proof of the properties they received and warn some not to harvest their olive crops, claiming prior control as a guarantee by militias and current approval from the Ministry of Defense.
– Ownership documents are unavailable for many properties—some lost, others damaged in the land registry. Many properties have not been legally transferred to new owners through heirs or purchase contracts, and numerous real estate assets remain unregistered with the state. Organizing legal powers of attorney for expatriates is also difficult.
– Many occupants demand financial payments from rightful owners in exchange for returning their properties. Owners often comply and avoid filing complaints to prevent further harm or out of fear of reprisal.
– Those vacating properties frequently strip houses of contents, doors, windows, and even electrical wiring.
– Bureaucratic procedures within the Economic Committee, and in many cases the judiciary, prolong the process of property restitution. If the occupier has armed connections, enforcement of committee decisions is often avoided.
While the regional director urges residents not to pay any sums to reclaim homes or properties and to report violations, formal directives should be issued to the remaining militias and incoming occupants to vacate or return properties to their owners under legal accountability. Otherwise, properties merely pass from one form of occupation to another under the committee, forcing owners to prove ownership and navigate lengthy procedures. Properties may not be returned to those accused of associating with the Autonomous Administration, the Syrian Democratic Forces, or those unable to authorize a representative with official documentation.
= Chaos and Lawlessness:
– On the evening of Sunday, August 24, 2025, after more than two hundred armed vehicles and personnel from the General Security Directorate entered the town of Shiyeh/Sheikh Al-Hadid, an exchange of gunfire occurred between them and the militia “Sultan Suleiman Shah Division,” led by “Mohammad Al-Jasim,” who was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and commander of the 25th Division under the Ministry of Defense in the current Damascus government. The clashes continued for hours amid widespread panic. The scale of losses on both sides remains unknown due to media blackout. Security convoys eventually withdrew, while the division’s headquarters and camps remained under the management of Mohammad Al-Jasim’s brothers, “Saif and Abu Siraj.”
– On the evening of Thursday, September 4, 2025, in the village of “Juiqeh/Juweiq,” part of the Afrin subdistrict, a fight broke out between members of the incoming population affiliated with the “Hamzat Division,” which had previously controlled the village. The altercation involved chaotic gunfire and mutual assaults, resulting in injuries. Residents of the village protested against the disorder, demanding the removal of all incoming personnel and an end to abuses. The General Security Directorate arrested some of the combatants, who were released the following day.
= Other Violations:
According to a circulated video recorded on September 1, 2025, “Abdul Rahman Barakat,” from the Khayru family/an Arab component in Jenderes city, whose house has been seized since 2018 by an armed individual from Hama, refused to vacate the property despite repeated requests and having traveled from Turkey five times to address the matter. In another video, “Abdul Rahman” explained that six months ago he demanded the armed individual vacate the house. The latter accused him of connections with the “PKK and the Party,” threatened him with a weapon, and refused to leave. Recently, the armed individual also prevented Abdul Rahman’s elderly and ill parents from entering or visiting the house, expelled them, threatened them in front of police personnel, and demanded $3,000 for handing over the property.
The removal of Turkish occupation forces and remnants of militias from exercising authority and control in Afrin is the first step toward ending the suffering of the residents and restoring Syrian sovereignty over the region.
13.09.2025
Media Office-Afrin
Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria
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Images:
– The assaulted individual: “Ahmad Zaki Manan.”
– The assaulted individual: “Hanan Hishko.”
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* Under the supervision of the European Organization of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria.
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