A photographic exhibition in Aleppo’s northern countryside showcasing monuments of Afrin, after the Turkish occupation
Northern Aleppo countryside – North-Press Agency
Dijla Khalil
A photographic exhibition was held on Sunday in the northern countryside of Aleppo, under the title “The Call of civilization” that showcases the encroachments in violation of Arin’s monuments, after the Turkish army and its loyalist Syrian armed groups took control over the city.
The exhibition, organized by the Directorate of Antiquities in the Afrin region (former Autonomous Administration region in northern Syria), included 49 photographs of destroyed monuments during the assault on the Syrian-Kurdish region of Afrin by Turkey and its backed Syrian armed opposition groups on the 20th of January 2018.
Salah Sino, the administrative director of the Directorate of Antiquities told North-Press about the difficulties faced by the Preparatory Committee for setting up the exhibition, by saying, “We have had great difficulty to obtain the photos and the videos under the applied siege, and arbitrary practices by the opposition armed groups and members of the Turkish army over the people in Afrin.”
Mr. Sino pointed out that most of the photos were confidentially taken by mobile cameras, explaining that they had difficulties in printing them; to be displayed optimally.
Regarding the importance of the exhibition, he added, “Our aim is to let the international community realize to what had happened in Afrin and to its monuments under the Turkish occupation, the destruction and theft,” calling on the international community for activating committees in order to apply the international agreements that protect the cultural properties of societies and “bring the perpetrators of crimes against the monuments into international tribunals”.
Zainab Hussein, a visitors to the exhibition, expressed her pain when she saw the displayed photos, saying: “Each photo has a different meaning from Ein Darah hill to Cyrrhus (the castle of Nebi Huri), I felt hurt when I saw the pictures and remembered my childhood days as we were visiting those monuments.”
Also, the exhibition included a video showing the extent of the damage and destruction that affected the monuments in the region of Afrin, north of the country.
Turkey and its backed Syrian opposition armed groups (mostly Islamist militias) took control over the Syrian-Kurdish region of Afrin on March 18, 2018, after fierce battles lasted for about two months against the People’s Protection Units (YPG).