Turkish-backed armed group occupies relief organization building in Afrin: report

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A group affiliated with Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sharqiya occupied the building of Bahar (Bihar) relief organization in northern Syria on Saturday, local media said.

Ten gunmen affiliated to Ahrar al-Sharqiya reportedly assaulted the organization’s director, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Darwish, expelled staff from the facility, and took over the building, local media reported.

According to the Smart News Agency, the group’s fighters entered Bahar’s building to inspect security camera footage after an unknown car had hit and damaged the wall of its headquarters in Afrin, located near the Bahar office.

The agency said the incident escalated when the gunmen discovered that the cameras did not record any footage at the time of the accident due to a power outage. “They verbally and physically assaulted the organization office manager Dr. Abdul Razzaq, and then forced everyone present out of the building.”

After intervention from Turkish government officials, Ahrar al-Sharqiya left the building, Smart News Agency added.

Meanwhile, Jesrpress said the Turkish-backed group had apologized for the incident that was based on a “misunderstanding” between members of the armed group and the relief organization.

Bahar Organization claims it is an independent non-governmental organization that provides humanitarian aid to vulnerable people. It was founded in Aleppo City in 2011 and has operated in Afrin since 2012.

Bahar is legally registered in Gaziantep, Turkey, in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil, and locally in various areas of northern Syria, including in areas under Turkish control and the Kurdish-led self-administration.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Fellow in the Middle East Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, said she wasn’t surprised that Ahrar al-Sharqiya was involved in the incident at Bahar.

“I’ve spoken to many civilians in areas under Turkish control and they consistently point to Ahrar al-Sharqiya being one of the most if not the most abusive factions around, so this is hardly surprising,” Tsurkov told Kurdistan 24.

“Several of them arrested activists before and tortured them, raided hospitals and attacked medical personnel, and, of course, carry out abuses on a daily basis against civilians unfortunate to be living under their control.”

According to a 2019 Amnesty International report, the group was responsible for the killing of Kurdish female politician Hevrin Khalaf during Turkey’s cross-border offensive into northern Syria in October of that year.

Human rights organization’s have accused Turkish-backed groups of serious abuses such as abductions against civilians in Afrin.

Despite relatives of victims in Afrin reporting such cases to the military, civilian police, and Turkish authorities, little change has been done, a United Nations report found in February 2019.

Read More: Turkish-backed militias kidnap Kurdish civilians in north Syria’s Afrin

“Turkey has a responsibility to stop war crimes and violations committed by forces under its control,” Amnesty International said last year. “Unless Turkey reins in its proxy forces and ends impunity for violations, it will encourage further atrocities.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany