Turkish-backed SNA prevents olive harvest in Syria’s Afrin
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – On Sunday, the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), prevented the olive harvest in four villages in the countryside of Afrin, northwest Syria, because the farmers refused to pay “protection fees” to the SNA militants.
Since the start of the olive harvest season, the SNA factions have imposed fees on farmers in exchange for allowing them to harvest olives.
An administrator in the local council of the village of Bulbul, affiliated with Turkey, told a North Press that the Sultan Murad Division, affiliated with the SNA, prevented the residents of the villages of Qasha (al-Hajeb), Qorta (Hozan), Bibaka (Tefla), and Qotan, north of Afrin city, from harvesting their olive crops.
This was due to the inability of most of them to pay the imposed “protection fee,” which amounts to 50 Turkish liras (about $2) for each olive tree.
The mentioned faction has banned olive harvest until Nov. 15, amid concerns among the residents of exploitation and encroachment on their fields during this period, according to the source.
The source indicated that the SNA factions differ in terms of the fees they impose on farmers in the areas they control, under the name of “protection fees,” with penalties for those who refuse to pay these fees.
Afrin has been under the occupation of Turkey and the SNA factions since 2018 following a military operation dubbed ‘Olive Branch’ against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) under the pretext of protecting Turkey’s national security.
The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.