Washington Kurdish Institute
BY: Giulia Valeria Anderson, June 8, 2020
Historically known as one of the main Roman cities in the Middle East, Afrin has always been the center for commercial activities as it rises at the border with Turkey and benefits from the passage of the Afrin River. The province of Afrin is mostly populated by the Kurdish community, many of which Christians, who have been controlling and protecting the area since the Syrian government withdrew its forces in 2012. The People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) have since declared a de facto autonomy, controlling the area (often referred to as Rojava – which means “west” in Kurdish) from attacks led by both by the Islamic State and the Turkish military forces.
Since Turkey took control of the Hatay Province in 1939, Afrin has been surrounded by Turkish forces encouraged by the government to take control of the area. Once the Syrian War began, Turkish-led forces have not hesitated once to attack the region, such that in 2018 the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights declared that Turkish bombings had heavily damaged the archeological site of Ain Dara – a historical temple known for its similarities to the famous Solomon Temple. Even if these attacks led to international and domestic outrage, violence led by Turkish forces has not ended. Again, in 2018, The Independent exposed a video of Turkish-backed militias threatening Kurdish Yazidis to convert to Islam or face death by beheading. Kurdish Yazidis have also been a target for the Islamic State ever since the beginning of the war, especially given their faith, fact confirmed by a former member of the Islamic State in an interview to The Independent. This member declared many jihadis were recruited by the Turkish government, and military, during the war and were told to attack the territories of Afrin without using their traditional tactics, as this would have certainly tied them to the Islamic State. Instead, they were instructed to act differently in order to have the blame fall on the YPG and give further reason for Turkey to pursue its attacks.
The events mentioned above, which occurred in 2018, underline only some of the atrocities of war perpetrated by the Turkish military in Afrin against the Kurdish population. Since 2018, Turkey has carried on hundreds of attacks against the province, many of which deadly, even though those inhabiting the territory have been fundamental for the global war against the Islamic State. Indeed, the women fighting with the YPJ, the men with the YPG, and some Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are those who liberated Raqqa from the Islamic State during one of the most violent battles conducted during the Syrian War. However, Turkey has continued to undermine the importance of the Kurdish community, such that always in 2018, it partially took control of Afrin with its Operation Olive Branch, and in 2019 it fought for the Kurdish area between Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain, with its Operation Peace Spring.
Currently, despite the global pandemic due to Covid-19, Turkey is still leading conflict in Afrin. Just recently, the European Council on Foreign Relations has compared the situation in Afrin with that of Gaza. The Council underlined how Turkey has enlarged the area under its control at the Syrian southern border, calling it a “safe zone”, while balancing its relations with Russia (a new third-actor in the Syrian War), the Kurds, and the Islamic State. The comparison with Gaza is due to the fact that the “safe zone” could result in a prolonged Turkish-military presence and to quenchless instability.
In the past years, the Turkish government has irrationally changed its foreign policy agenda in Syria, not only by backing jihadi militias but also by considering the YPG “more dangerous than ISIS” – as reported by Sabah, a Turkish newspaper linked to Erdogan. Notwithstanding this change of policy, Turkey has just recently increased its attacks of violence in the province. As reported by Kurdistan24, there is proof that the Turkish-backed militias in Afrin are forcing women and young girls to marriage, previous allegations had been reported in October 2019 denouncing at least 50 forced marriages since Turkey’s invasion. Again, in May 2020, 3 civilians were killed and six were wounded in Afrin, due to clashes between the Hamza Division and Jyash al-Islam – a Turkish-Saudi backed militia group who promotes an Islamic State under Sharia law. Plus, there is fear that Jyash al-Islam may seize Afrin, as many of them have fought side-by-side with the Turkish–backed forces in Libya against Khalifa Haftar. However, given Turkey occupied the territory, it should be its responsibility to investigate and prevent any violation of human rights, as child marriage and kidnapping of women, though the Turkish government has always denied these allegations.
During the first days of June 2020, around 20 different human rights organizations signed a petition to raise awareness on crimes carried on by the many Turkish-backed militias in Afrin and asked for international intervention. This call for help came right after the discovery of an illegal prison found within the walls of the Hamza Divisions’ headquarters in Afrin after these were forced to flee from the building due to clashes with the Syrian National Army (SNA) – known to also be bankrolled by Turkey. Again, this shows how Turkey is incapable to prevent conflict and take account of the violence and crimes perpetrated by its militias. As a matter of fact, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria confirmed these allegations, reporting that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that Syrian National Army fighters perpetrated the war crime of murder and repeatedly committed the war crime of pillaging […] these violations may entail criminal responsibility for such commanders who knew or should have known about these crimes or failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or repress their commission” (Human Rights Council Report – HRC/43/57/AEV-1, point III.B.59).
At last, it is fundamental to recall the importance of human rights. The Kurdish community in Syria has been facing violent clashes with the Turkish-backed forces, some of which known to be tied with the Islamic State. The situation in which many are forced to live in is foresee a violation and crime. Notwithstanding the efforts of the international community, human rights should not be put on “hold”, and as Forbes Magazine previously questioned earlier this month, we must put more effort into the future of the community.
Giulia Valeria Anderson recently concluded with honors her Master’s degree at Ca’ Foscari University in Italy – defending her dissertation on US-Kurdish Relations between the 1960s and 1990s. She currently works for an Italian NGO associated with the UN Department of Global Communications and previously experienced working for UNESCO.