Theft and logging of Afrin’s olive trees

Uncontrolled logging in several areas of Aleppo’s northern countryside continues, amid appeals from local residents to stop this operation, which puts the trees at great risks in all respects.
The olive trees season is considered as the most important agricultural season in terms of seasonal income for people of northern Aleppo countryside, and questions by people of this area are raised, in terms of beneficiaries of such damage.
 
Visible and hidden logging
Muhammad Atshan, a resident of the town of Talbijin, told North-Press about what olive trees are exposed to in his area, is very similar to the actions of the armed opposition groups against olive trees in Afrin, “the only difference is that the operations are done there under full view of everyone, while here, it’s done at night and invisibly”, he said.

Difficulty of protection
“We managed to protect some olive groves in our areas, as the large and extended cultivated areas and the absence of owners of those areas, prevented us of protecting all of them all”, Mohsen Abdullah, a resident of Kafin village said. He added that “villages and towns in no Aleppo countryside are controlled by the Syrian government forces, and security and service institutions could not stop the cutting and theft operations”.

Systematic sabotage operations
While Syrian government sources said that these operations are either motivated by theft, because wood is in high demand as the winter season approaches, or it could be a systematic policy carried out by gangs, which are financed by parties aiming to hit the community cohesion infrastructure in Aleppo’s northern countryside to accuse, in turn, Afrin’s IDPs of conducting such operations in retaliation of what is happening in their region of Afrin”.
The source added that the people of Afrin are known for their passion and care for olives and pure devotion for this tree, so “Turkey may be involved in these operations of logging and systematic sabotage, which affects a good areas of olive wooded lands”.

The absence of Afrin olives
The destruction of olive trees and theft of crops have become widespread in the area, but these actions didn’t prevent the residents of preparing olive harvest, the most important crop in northern Syrian in general, and Aleppo’s northern countryside in particular.
Despite its abundance, it wouldn’t be sufficient for the local market in Aleppo, due to the absence of Afrin olives, which is a grand name and trademark among oil dealers and even inside Syrian houses, of which olive oil is usually available, especially Afrin’s olive oil.