The Turkish state systematically violates human rights by carrying out crimes such as massacres, kidnappings, violence, ransoms, confiscation of locals' properties, reselling the confiscated materials in the market and plundering the environment in Afrin.
The Human Rights Organization Afrin-Syria reported the abduction of three civilians in the northern Syrian canton of Afrin occupied by the Turkish state since 2018.
According to the report, the so-called “Civilian Police”, a paramilitary criminal network established by the Turkish state, kidnapped three civilians, including a woman, from the village of Mirkan in Mabata district.
The civilians, identified as Fehîme Ehmed Tahir (25), Mihemed Ehmed Mistefa Hacî (40) and Ebdu Ezet (30), were reportedly taken to a headquarters of the occupation forces and their aftermath remains unknown.
Afrin Canton was the westernmost canton of Rojava and North and East Syria, home to 200,000 ethnic Kurds. Though the population was overwhelmingly Kurdish, it was home to diverse religious groups including Yazidis, Alawites and Christians alongside Sunni Muslims.
On 20 January 2018, Turkey launched air strikes on 100 locations in Afrin, as the onset of an invasion they dubbed ‘Operation Olive Branch.’
The Turkish Airforce indiscriminately shelled civilians as well as YPG/YPJ positions, while a ground assault was carried out by factions and militias organised under the umbrella of the Turkish-backed National Army.
By 15 March, Turkish-backed militias had encircled Afrin city and placed it under artillery bombardment. A Turkish airstrike struck the city’s only functioning hospital, killing 16 civilians.
Civilians fled and the SDF retreated, and by 18 March Turkey was in de facto occupation of Afrin. Between 400 and 500 civilians died in the invasion, overwhelmingly as a result of Turkish bombing. Other civilians were summarily executed in the field.
Prior to the Turkish invasion, Afrin had been one of the most peaceful and secure parts of Syria, virtually never seeing combat during the civil war bar occasional skirmishes between YPG/YPJ and jihadi forces on its borders. As a result, Afrin offered peaceful sanctuary to over 300,000 internally displaced people from elsewhere in Syria.
