By Dilsoz Youssef
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press)— Human rights activists and researchers express concerns over Turkey’s continuous construction of settlements in the Afrin region, northern Syria, with the support of Gulf organizations and associations. They believe that this will have a detrimental effect on the future social fabric of Syria.
The Turkish government, with support from Gulf organizations, continues to construct settlements around the city of Afrin, in Aleppo northern countryside (also called Shahba region). Turkey’s policy of demographic change has resulted in the displacement of 90 percent of the region’s original Kurdish inhabitants, who have been replaced by Syrians from different regions.
Observers argue that Turkey’s efforts aim to change the demographic structure and erase the historical identity of the Kurdish population in the region, This objective is evident in Turkey’s appropriation, through its affiliated opposition factions within the Syrian National Army (SNA), of the properties and lands belonging to the Kurds without their consent.
Turkey has initiated the construction of 21 settlements in Afrin since the beginning of 2023, with the support of Kuwaiti, Qatari, Saudi, Palestinian, and Turkish organizations, according to the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press.
This comes as Turkey continues to deport tens of thousands of Syrians from its territories and resettle them in these settlements.
Impact
Since Turkish forces and their affiliated factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) seized control of Afrin in March 2018 following a military operation dubbed ‘Olive Branch’, the region has not witnessed stability or security. Instead, there has been a pervasive atmosphere of insecurity, marked by incidents of kidnappings and killings.
Orhan Kamal, a coordinator in Synergy Association, a victims’ advocacy group operating in northeast Syria, emphasizes in an interview with North Press that building these settlements in occupied areas in northern Syria will have negative consequences.
“Constructing these settlements on lands owned by the inhabitants of Afrin, without their consent and in their presence, affects the relationship between the original inhabitants and the newcomers. This situation hampers the ability to lead normal lives and maintain amicable relations in the future,” he says.
The displaced individuals from Afrin, currently residing in the northern countryside of Aleppo, emphasize that the ongoing construction of settlements and the resettlement of outsiders or Syrians displaced from other regions within Syria will inevitably drag the region into a long-term conflict.
According to the Monitoring and Documentation Department, the construction of settlements is distributed across seven areas in Afrin, including Jindires, Sherawa, Sharran, al- Ahlam Mountain, Ghazawiyah Village, al-Khalidiya Wood, and Kafr Safra, after the uprooting of thousands of trees owned by the original inhabitants.
Undermining Hopes
Turkey works on returning a million Syrian refugees to areas under its control in northern Syria, housing them in these settlements, according to a previous statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last year.
Khunav Othman, a field researcher from Afrin, states to North Press, “What is happening in Afrin with the construction of settlements by internationally licensed organizations aims to implement demographic change at the expense of forcibly displaced residents currently residing in Shahba region and other areas in Syria and abroad.”
Othman stresses that since Operation Olive Branch, the rights of civilians in Afrin have been repeatedly violated amid international silence.
“Turkey’s deportation of Syrians from Turkey to Syria and their resettlement in this area is an attempt by the Turkish government to undermine the hopes of the original inhabitants in returning to their homes,” she adds.
The field researcher, who had her home in the Rajo District in Afrin countryside converted into a children’s clinic by Turkey with the assistance of a European organization, highlights Turkey’s objective of eradicating the original presence and identity of the Afrin region’s residents.
“Turkey exploited the earthquake that rocked Jindires in February, seizing the lands of forcibly displaced residents and turning them into centers and settlements under its control,” she states.
Othman called on civil and human rights organizations to intervene and exert pressure on Turkey, and the countries supporting the construction of these settlements, to put an end to the demographic change project.