PYD delegation meets with Bremen Parliament Director on Afrin

A PYD delegation met with the State Parliament Director in Bremen, Germany about the occupation of Afrin and spoke about the Turkish state’s crimes against humanity.

A PYD delegation met with State Parliament Director Hans Joachim von Wachter and submitted a folder to him, requesting that he take diplomatic initiatives to get the Turkish state to take down the wall surrounding Afrin.

“HOMES AND SHOPS OCCUPIED, GOODS CONFISCATED”

A delegation of PYD’s Bremen representatives including Remezan Remezan met with officials from the state parliament in Bremen. The delegation was received by Parliamentary Director Hans Joachimvon Wachter. Remezan and Feyza Ashad relayed their demands to the Parliamentary director and Remezan said the following in the name of the group:

“Since the Turksih state invaded Afrin, every day there have been human rights violations. Homes and shops of Afrin’s residents are being confiscated and their property is looted. They are exiled and the demographic makeup of the city is damaged. The exiles are replaced by ultra-fundamentalist religious gangs loyal to the Turkish state. The olive groves and the natural environment in Afrin is being pillaged. The fundamentalist gangs allied with the Turkish state cut down olive trees, tear out thousands of olive trees to sell to regions outside Afrin and sell thousands of tonens of olive oil and olive fruit harvest to Europe and other countries through the Turkish state. Kurds are banned from speaking Kurdish, they are being forced to speak either Turkish or Arabic.”

“KURDISH IS BANNED”

“Children are not allowed to speak Kurdish and their education is no longer in Kurdish. They can’t utilize health services at all,” said Remezan and added: “Kurds currently in Afrin, as well as Christians, Yazidis and Alevis, have no guarantee of their lives anymore. Tens of thousands of jihadist gang members brought in from all over Syria have been settled in their homes in Afrin.

Meanwhile, the Turkish state has put up a high wall along the border between Afrin and Aleppo/Shehba to annex the city to Turkish territory.”

“TORTURE, ABDUCTIONS AND EXECUTIONS”

Feyza Ashad said the following:

“The Turkish state’s occupation forces and their allied gangs are forcing our children to speak Arabic and Turkish. They abduct civilians every day and torture them, then hold them for high amounts of ransom. Our people’s bodies are thrown out on to the streets, tortured and decapitated. Over 600 Kurds from Afrin have disappeared without a trace in the last few months. Hundreds of Afrin residents have been abducted and taken to Turkey, simply because they are Kurdish, where they are imprisoned.”

WACHTER: KURDS ARE BEING TORTURED ON THEIR OWN LANDS

Parliamentary Director Wachter said the following during the meeting with the PYD delegation:

“I am glad to receive you in the name of our Parliamentary President Mme. Antje Grotheer. Kurds being subjected to inhumane conditions and torture on their own lands is a grave concern for us and we take it seriously. I will relay your case to all the parties in the parliament.”