8,500 trees felled by SNA factions in Syria’s Afrin in 2023
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – Factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) have cut 8,429 trees in Afrin, northern Aleppo, north Syria since the beginning of 2023.
Since Turkey’s takeover of Afrin in 2018, the region has suffered a severe degradation of its vegetation caused by the widespread cutting of its trees. International reports have revealed that SNA factions steal a specific share of olive oil from locals after the harvest season under the guise of taxes. They then sell it to Turkey and eventually finds its way into European markets.
According to a report by the Monitoring and Documentation Department of North Press, around 5,030 olive trees and 2,060 pomegranate trees were cut down and the rest are fruit and forest trees. Most of the trees were chopped down for logging and sale in markets.
The factions primarily responsible for tree cutting in Afrin are the Hamza Division and al-Amshat faction, which have cut down over 3,000 trees and are sanctioned by the US Department of Treasury. Following them are the Ahrar al-Sharqia, Sham Legion, and Sultan Murad factions.
In early October, by the start of the olive harvest season, a local source in Afrin revealed that al-Amshat faction has started imposing royalties in US dollars on local olive farmers.
Since the beginning of 2023, North Press has documented the seizing of 1,850 fruit-bearing trees owned by original inhabitants of Afrin by the factions.