Turkey builds new Saudi-funded settlement in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Local organizations, in coordination with Turkey and funded by Saudi Arabia, finished building on Thursday a new settlement in the countryside of Afrin, northwest Syria.
Local sources told North Press that a local Turkish organization funded by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center completed building a new settlement near the village of Ghazawiyah in the southern countryside of Afrin.
The Kurdish-majority region of Afrin has been under Turkish occupation since 2018 following a military operation dubbed “Olive Branch” to push away the Kurdish People’s/Women’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) under the pretext of protecting the Turkish national security.
The invasion displaced around 300,000 indigenous Kurds. Turkey and its affiliated opposition factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA), replaced the population with Arabs fleeing other parts of Syria. The Kurds in Afrin are subject to systemic discrimination and violence.
The new settlement includes more than 350 prefabricated rooms.
The number of settlements built by organizations affiliated with Turkey, Kuwait, Palestine, and Qatar in Afrin reached about 30 in the towns of Sharran, Sheikh Hadid, Jindires, Bulbul, and Rajo.