ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – People in the traditionally Kurdish city of Afrin are suffering due to severe economic crisis and a lack of law enforcement in the area. The city in northern Syria has been occupied by Turkish and Turkish-backed forces for almost two years, and many of its Kurdish inhabitants have fled.
Turkey's Syrian proxies in Afrin have been accused of looting Kurdish homes and businesses, vandalizing Kurdish cultural landmarks, and resettling Arab families in vacant homes left by fleeing Kurdish families. According to UN estimates, upwards of 150,000 Kurds have been displaced.
L.T., a citizen in Afrin who refused to reveal his real identity for security reasons, told Rudaw on Thursday that “I’m suffocating - what is happening in Afrin is unbelievable and unbearable. Everyone sold Afrin and everybody left Afrin for occupiers.”
“Today a widow who was only 28 years old came and asked if she can sell her body to anyone for only 2,000 Syrian liras, which equals only three US dollars, to provide food for her children," he added, starting to cry.
He spoke bitterly about the conditions of Afrin, which are deteriorating at all levels from the absence of security and stability. Living conditions have drastically deteriorated as a result of extreme increases in the price of ordinary goods, the absence of resources, frequent robberies and looting organized by Turkish-backed armed groups.
Arbitrary arrests, kidnappings and exorbitant ransom demands also remain commonplace as judicial processes are largely a formality. Judicial structures in occupied Afrin are managed by Turkish-backed armed groups.
More than 7227 people have been kidnapped or detained since the invasion, while at least 2112 are still missing, according to a lawyer who spoke to Rudaw on January 26.
“Most of the crimes have been conducted by the Turkish-backed rebels, and the data has been collected by a group of lawyers who are working on reporting on kidnapping cases in Afrin,” the lawyer said.
L.T. stated that the case of the widow who was ready to resort to prostitution to provide food and source of income for her children is not uncommon, and there are many similar stories of people faced with desperate circumstances.
This severe poverty is caused by the high prices of equipment, food and beverages, and other daily requirements. Furthermore, there are very few international humanitarian organizations in the region to support poor families in their time of need.
“An average [monthly] salary of an employee in Afrin is 600 Turkish liras, which is equal to a little bit more than 100$ US dollars,” L.T. said. “However, the price of food and other daily requirements in the markets are very high, and the salary is not enough,” said L.T.
L.T. criticized international humanitarian organizations for not being present in Afrin, and revealed that the only aid organizations present in the area support the Turkish government, and their aid only targets newly arrived Syrian refugees who are relocating to Afrin from Turkey.
Some Kurdish families in Afrin have daughters married to the members of Turkish-backed armed groups in order to provide security and safety for their families, and avoid being robbed, kidnapped, looted or arrested.
“There are over 150 marriages of Kurdish girls with [members of] pro-Turkish armed groups,” L.T. told Rudaw.
Olive theft
Afrin's famous olive trees are also being targeted by rebels, according to activists.
“ [The] cutting of olive trees by the Turkish-backed rebels is systematic and on purpose,” the activist said. “Since the beginning of the Turkish invasion on Afrin city, more than 20,000 olive trees have been removed and cut by the Turkish backed rebels, and that has threatened the olive tree lands in Afrin.”
More than 350 olive trees in a farmland in Bulbul district, the activist added.
Afrin is famous for its olive trees, a main source of livelihood for a considerable number of residents. After the Turkish takeover, with the help of its Syrian proxies, the olives and their by-products have been exported via Turkey and sold to other European countries under the name Afrin.
Another activist provided Rudaw with videos showing hundreds of olive trees appearing to be removed from farmland in Afrin.
“Members of Jabha al-Shamya Turkish-backed rebels removed and cut 150 olive trees in Kafr Janah village in Afrin,” the activist said, adding that the land is owned by a local Kurd.
“Afrin” olive oil is now seen on grocery market shelves in Germany and Spain.
Turkey hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees who have fled their country’s long and brutal civil war, and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has anticipated resettling as many as three million in northern Syria.
Reporting by Hussein Omar.
Translation by Lawk Ghafuri.
Updated on January 26.
