Syria summit in Istanbul: Without peace in Afrin, there is no permanent ceasefire in Idlib

In the run-up to the Istanbul Syria Summit, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) emphasized that the conference should also address the ongoing serious human rights violations in the region of Afrin, which is occupied by Turkish troops. "It won't be possible to negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Idlib without a withdrawal of the Turkish troops from northern Syria. The war crimes committed by the Turkish occupying forces in Afrin have led to an even worse security situation for the civilian population. They are facing a humanitarian catastrophe," stated Kamal Sido, the STP's Syria-expert, in Göttingen on Thursday. Anyone who aims to stabilize Idlib must not ignore the neighboring region of Afrin. "The Chancellor should not simply accept the fact that Turkish President Erdogan and Russian President Putin are trying to gloss over the catastrophic situation in Afrin. The Kurds have been fighting "Islamic State" (IS) for years. Now, Germany and Europe must not let them down," Sido demanded.

According to the STP, at least 3,000 Kurds from the region of Afrin in northern Syria (which is mainly inhabited by Kurds, Yazidis, Alevis, and Christians) have been abducted by Turkish troops and allied Syrian jihadists in March 2018. Along the Syrian-Turkish border, a large strip of land (200-500 meters wide and about 150 km long) has been depopulated, and all agricultural land has been destroyed – and the occupying powers have burnt down around ten of Afrin's 32 acres of decades-old pine forests.

It is especially the minority groups in the region that are suffering from repression under the occupying power and its allied Islamist fighters. Thus, the small Kurdish-Christian community (about 1000 people) is probably gone forever, as all Christians were forced to flee head over heels. It is to be doubted that Afrin will ever be able to re-establish a Christian life.

The Yazidis from Afrin aren't better off either: of the 20,000 to 30,000 Yazidis living in the region, there are only a few left. Almost every day, there are kidnappings by pro-Turkish Syrian Islamists who are trying to extort ransom money. The few remaining shrines of the Yazidis in Afrin were destroyed.

The approximately 5000-members of the Alevi community in the city suffered the same fate. The people were forced to flee, and the Syrian Islamists have established Islamic Sharia laws in the once open-minded and tolerant region of Afrin.

Headerpicture: Bertramz via Wikimedia Commons