Afrin’s archeological sites subjected to looting and destruction
Northern Aleppo – North-Press Agency
Sam al-Ahmad
As Turkish-backed armed opposition groups took control over the towns of Barad, Kafr Nebo, Kimar, Burj Haidar and other archaeological areas in the mountainous areas of Lilon, Semaan (Mount Simeon) and Shirawa, they made these areas a target of random and systematic damage, in addition to the illegal excavations and smuggling of archaeological finds and artifacts into the Turkish territories. In the town of Barad, the old church and the shrine of Saint Mar Maron turned into a point of artillery for Turkey's armed opposition groups and a place to gather their military vehicles, in addition to digging and excavation that led to the fall of many of the church walls and columns.
Imad Ahmad, the mayor of the town of al-Ziyarah in Shirawa district told North-Press: "Most of the antiquities of the area have been destroyed, whether as a result of the Turkish shelling during the invasion of Afrin, or by shelling that is still being launched from the Turkish military bases and the positions of its backed armed groups deployed around Mount Semaan and some other areas in Shirawa.”
Abd al-Mawla Deeb, a historical researcher from the town of al-Zahraa told North-Press that Turkey's goal of sabotage operations which it supervised or condoned is to steal the antiquities of Syria and to obliterate the cultural identity of this region, which since the dawn of history was an example of mutual coexistence and peace between the various components. He added, "Besides Turkey's damaging these great monuments and stealing them, it is displacing the Kurdish population living in these ancient villages, which are deeply rooted in history to separate the Kurds from their cultural heritage.”
Likewise, the towns of Kalouteh and Kharab-Shams even if they fall outside the control of these groups, but they are within the circle of danger, where the presence of these archaeological buildings with all the Roman heritage they have in the areas of contact and on the lines of engagement makes them a constant and permanent target for artillery and missile shelling by the Turkish-backed groups, which led to the destruction of many archaeological monuments and destroyed their exquisite inscriptions and decorations.
Muhammad Jafar Khidr, a resident of the town of Aqiba in Shirawa told North-Press: "The ongoing bombardment by Turkey's armed groups is not only targeting civilians and their homes, but has also destroyed many monuments on the plain sight of the international organizations concerned with monuments and historical cultural heritage.”
In July, the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums in Syria called on the international organizations, international legal and academic figures interested in culture and all those interested in human civilization to intervene in order to protect Syria's cultural heritage, and put an end to what it had described as the unjust aggression of the Turkish military on the archaeological sites in Aleppo countryside.