Washington Kurdish Institute
August 13, 2018
On March 18th, 2018, Turkish forces along with Jihadi groups some affiliated with Al Qaeda under the banner of the ‘Free Syrian Army’ declared victory in their assault on the Syrian city of Afrin, near the border with Turkey. They had seized the city after two months of a brutal assault that left hundreds dead and 200,000 displaced from their homes. The Turkish forces sought to expel the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which had secured the city since government abandoned it in 2012, as the Syrian Civil War began. Under the YPG, religious tolerance vanished after almost five months of occupation, the results of the Turkish invasion are visibly catastrophic.
The litany of human rights abuses, perhaps most notably the persecution of minorities is a testament to the style of ‘governance’ the Turkish state and their proxy groups favor. The Turkish military has sought and attained a military victory without any plan for a stable or peaceful resolution. It has, as described in a condemning report by Amnesty International, given “Syrian armed groups free rein to commit serious human rights abuses against civilians in the northern city of Afrin.” This fact was displaced recently when a video surfaced of an Islamist fighter of the Turkish-backed Free Patriotic Army (IAF), evidently no older than 16, questioning Atwan Majid and his son, Hussein, local Kurdish residents age 88 and 63 respectively. The fighter interrogates them, asking about weapons, and when the men insist they know nothing, the youth begins inquiring as to their religious background and the number of prayers they perform per day. This is but one instance of a much broader campaign of targeted harassment and intimidation against the civilian population of Afrin. Turkish-backed militant groups have seized and looted Kurdish homes and businesses, while simultaneously engaging in routine persecution of religious and ethnic minorities. Members of the Yazidi community, a small sect of Kurds from northern Iraq, who experienced horror and attempted genocide at the hands of ISIS in 2014, now face renewed persecution and forced conversion at the hands of the Islamist militants who occupy Afrin. As was the case for the Majids and many others, abduction and torture have become commonplace for citizens of the area who refuse to accept the radical fundamentalist ideology of the invaders, typically without valid reasons or probable cause.
The situation has deteriorated to such a point that it has received condemnation not only from international humanitarian bodies such as the United Nations but even from NATO allies such as the United States, which has expressed concern for the 140,000 displaced residents who are being refused re-entry to the city and the right of return to their homes. The Turkish military has concurrently resettled Sunni Arab families from East Ghouta in the stolen homes of Kurds, who were forced to flee. This strategy of demographic change proves the Turkish forces and their jihadist allies have long-term ambitions in the area and hope to create a population which is, in the long run, more favorable to Islamist and anti-Kurdish policies. The questions of morality and human rights do not seem to be a factor in their decision making. If nothing is done, then Afrin could develop into a hotbed of terror and a bastion of Turkish influence in the region, allowing Syria’s northern ally to meddle in its politics for years to come.