Three years after 'Olive Branch': A militarized Afrin and continued violations against its residents

Three years after ‘Olive Branch’: A militarized Afrin and continued violations against its residents

Three years after Turkish forces and allied Syrian factions took Afrin in 2018, Ammar Hamou and Omar Nour report that its original residents, especially Kurds, live under constant armed domination. The factions are described as dividing the district among themselves, collecting rent and shares of olive and other harvests, pressuring residents to leave their homes and controlling public space, while bombings and infighting occur almost every month.

A complaints committee exists but, according to the sources interviewed, has not stopped the abuses, and the civil police have little power over armed groups. Rights monitors documented 231 detentions in the area in the last two months of 2020 alone. Analysts quoted in the piece argue that, although Turkey’s direct presence has shrunk, it remains legally and politically responsible for the region.

Most of the Kurds displaced in 2018 have not returned, and an agreement meant to enable their safe return was never implemented. Kurdish representatives describe a deliberate demographic change that has left Kurds a much smaller share of Afrin’s population.

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