Syria – Latest violations by Turkey-backed militias in Afrin

The Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yeketi) has documented numerous incidents, violations and crimes committed by Syrian militias affiliated with the Turkish regime in the Afrin region.

The party said in a statement that received a copy of it: Ramadan has not served as a deterrent to the Syrian-Muslim Brotherhood Alliance militias and the Turkish occupation authorities in curbing violations and crimes committed against the region and its people, or at least in preventing their fighting over the conflict over looting, quotas and spheres of influence, and in not terrorizing civilians.

The party stated that all the residents of the village of Omer Samu were displaced during the aggression against the area. Of these, 13 families returned, 40 individuals were forcibly displaced, and about 50 families, 350 individuals were resettled.

The village is dominated by the Elite Army militias, and the return of residents to it was banned for more than a year after its occupation in March 2018. During this period, all the contents of the houses were stolen, including furniture, supplies, copper utensils, gas cylinders, tools, electrical equipment, photoelectric units, household generators, in addition to an agricultural tractor, all the contents of the mosque and school. These were later refurbished, transformers, cables, some columns of the public electricity network, and pipes for the supply of drinking water.

The militias seized all the properties of the absentees, including houses, farms, and trees, and imposed various royalties on the properties of those present, in addition to thefts that affected the olive season.

The remaining residents of the village were subjected to various types of violations, including arrests, torture, financial extortion and harassment. In addition, the site of Cyrrhus in the east of the village was bulldozed with heavy machinery in order to search for antiquities and steal them from these militias.

In the same statement, the party said: According to his description, the Turkish occupation authorities: A number of citizens were arbitrarily arrested on trumped-up charges, which have no basis.

The violations did not stop with the residents, but reached the pulpits of the mosques. The speeches of the imams who are supervised and appointed by the departments directly linked to the Cessation of the Turkish Religion, which is directly affiliated with the Turkish President, do not contain any reference to the violations and crimes committed against the Afrin region and its people, and do not condemn them.