Ethnic cleansing continues in Afrin: Kidnapping, extortion, bombardment

The Turkish state continues its ethnic cleansing operation in Afrin, which it occupied in 2018, through extortion, kidnapping for ransom and bombardments.

As part of the policies to change the demography of Afrin, migrants settled in the region continue to illegally sell the seized properties of displaced Afrin citizens.

Most recently, a person named Ehmed El Heci, who settled in Mehmudiyê neighbourhood of Afrin, sold the house belonging to İsmet Henan to another migrant named Mihemed Mirî for 1,500 dollars. Ehmed al-Haji had seized this house in 2018 when the Turkish state and its affiliated gangs occupied Afrin.

Human rights violations in Afrin, which are not limited to the seizure of properties, continue with ransom demands and kidnappings. A member of the gang group ‘Makhawir al-Sharqiye’ demanded 4 thousand dollars from a citizen named Cemal Hemîd in exchange for returning his house on Dêrsim Hospital Street. 

Similarly, the gangs of the ‘112th Division’ under the command of the occupying Turkish state kidnapped a citizen named Menna Miho Mamo Nasan who was returning home in Dimili village of Mabeta district and demanded a ransom from his family for his release. 

On the same day, 60-year-old Sibhî Ebdo Şêxo was also kidnapped in Mehmudiyê neighbourhood and his family was threatened that he would be killed if the ransom was not paid.

The occupying Turkish state and its gangs continue their bombardments against different parts of Afrin, in addition to property seizures and kidnappings. 

On the other hand, the villages of Tinib and Bênê in Şêrawa district were shelled with howitzers. There is no information yet about possible damage and casualties as a result of these attacks.