Syrian Kurds call on international community not to ignore abuses in Afrin
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi called on the UN and international community to stop "ignoring their responsibilities to the people of Afrin" on the fourth anniversary of the Turkish occupation of the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin on Mar. 18, 2018.
"The United Nations and the international community are still avoiding their responsibilities towards the people of Afrin," Abdi tweeted on Thursday evening.
"With four years of occupation, the genocide continues in the olive city of Afrin," he added. "Ending Turkey's occupation and the return of its people to their land and homes is our responsibility."
A Statement for the Public Opinion
— Syrian Democratic Council SDC (@SDCPress) March 17, 2022
The Turkish state launched an aggression against #Afrin on January 20th, 2018, and after 58 days, the people of Afrin....https://t.co/SKohqwZzgx
The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political counterpart of the SDF, also called on "the United Nations to assume its responsibilities for the safe return of the indigenous people of Afrin, expelling all intruders from it."
Moreover, the SDC called for the removal of "all aspects of the demographic change and Turkification policies implemented by Turkey in the Syrian territories as well as we call on to form specialized committees for investigating crimes committed by Turkey and its mercenaries in Afrin and holding them accountable."
On the other hand, the General Secretariat of the Kurdish National Council in Syria (KNC), the rival to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), called on the UN organizations to stop human rights violations and called for the "expulsion of these armed groups from the populated areas in Afrin, towns, and villages subordinate to it and handing over its management to its original inhabitants."
The KNC also called on the Syrian opposition, of which it is a part, "to commit to implementing the agreement signed with the Kurdish National Council regarding work to stop violations and facilitate the safe return of the displaced to their homes."
Read More: Syrian opposition fails to stop war crimes in Afrin: Kurdish National Council
Nadine Maenza, the Chair of the official US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), during an event by the Paris Kurdish Institute and the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) on Thursday, said that the Turkish invasion of Afrin "has been among the biggest mistakes that Turkey and the Syrian opposition made in the Civil War."
"After this, they could no longer sell themselves as the righteous answer to an evil (Syrian president) Assad."
She added that multiple independent organizations, including the United Nations, have documented "horrific crimes" in Afrin, "including killings, rapes, kidnapping, extortion, force conversion and land appropriation arrest of Christians for apostasy and torture."
Moreover, the SDC representative in Washington, Sinam Mohammed, said women are still being raped and kidnapped in Afrin.
"But where is the action, but how can we stop it?" she asked.
She also said there are still women missing.
"Where are they now?" she asked. "We want to know that."
Read More: Imprisoned Yezidi woman suffers miscarriage in Afrin: SOHR
A recent report released by the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria documented how Turkish-backed groups in Afrin are continuing their looting and pillaging of the occupied Syrian Kurdish enclave.
Read More: Turkish-backed groups continue looting Afrin: UN report
"Properties, including homes, schools, shops and factories, in Afrin city continued to be occupied by Syrian National Army (Turkish-backed SNA) factions, particularly affecting displaced owners," the report said.
On Thursday, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) also reported that the Turkish-backed Military Police have continued to arrest Kurdish civilians for ransom.