Turkey’s SNA profits from illegal logging, royalties in Syria’s Afrin
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Human rights activist said on Monday Turkish authorities are complicit with the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), and make millions of dollars from royalties on olives and olive oil and illegal cutting of trees in Afrin, northwest Syria.
Ibrahim Sheikho, spokesperson of Human Rights Organization-Afrin, a local NGO, told North Press that in 2023, large sums of royalties were imposed by the offices of SNA factions in villages under the control of Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (Amshat) in the towns of Mabata and Sheikh Hadid (Shiye) in the countryside of Afrin.
“In both towns alone, more than $5,326,000 in royalties on olive harvest and olive oil were collected,” he said.
Since the occupation of Afrin in 2018 , the SNA factions have been logging trees, and clearing vast lands, turning green spaces into barren lands.
Since the beginning of the occupation more than 500,000 trees have been cut down, mostly in the towns of Jindires and Sharran, to build settlements and settle families of SNA militants.
Sheikho pointed out that most of those who illegally cut trees in Afrin are members of SNA factions or their families where Turkish forces turn a blind eye to these violations.
“There has not been a single case where SNA militants or members of their families were arrested over illegal cutting of trees by Turkish security apparatuses,” he said.
“SNA’s Hamza and Sultan Murad divisions, under directives of the Turkish forces, constantly cut down forest trees in the village of Kafr Mezzah in Sharran,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Hamza Division started cutting olive trees as soon as the harvest season ended in the villages of Faqiran, and Kafr Zit, he said.
The factions then transfer the wood in vehicles in the middle of the day to centers for selling in Afrin, Jindires and other areas. “Olive tree wood is sold in the black market. It is priced between $100 and $140, whereas that of forest trees is sold at a lesser price,” according to Sheikho.
Contrarily, olive tree owners are required to check with the economic offices of the factions and pay a royalty of five Turkish liras (equals about $0.17) per olive tree for trimming at the end of the harvest season. The SNA factions assault and beat tree owners if they show objections to these acts.
“When a tree owner files a complaint to local authorities they pressure him until he cancels the complaint, so he would not be charged with dealing with Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES),” the activist said.
Sheikho added that since the beginning of the Turkish occupation of Afrin, they have documented these violation and informed the relevant international parties, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Since the beginning of 2023, Turkey has initiated the construction of 21 settlements in Afrin, with the support of Kuwaiti, Qatari, Saudi, Palestinian, and Turkish organizations, according to the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press.