Turkish-backed terrorists continue to steal and loot Syrian property and hand it over to newly arrived extremist families in northern Syria. Civilian sources living in the city of Ras Al-Ain in Al-Hasaka province in the northeast of the country told local news agency SANA on Monday that members of the Ankara-backed terrorist group known as Firqat Al-Hamza are stealing and looting residents' property and handing it over to militiamen who have come to populate the area. Firqat Al-Hamza is a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Syrian National Liberation Army, the rival faction fighting the Syrian Arab Army of Bachar al-Asad.
Several Syrian houses have been completely confiscated by the military, according to sources consulted by SANA, which also confirmed the fighting between some residents and terrorists over the theft and looting of their property. There is also an undetermined number of deaths and injuries among the attackers.
These activities are not new. The Turkish-backed factions in the so-called Syrian National Army also continue their violations against the population of the Afrin area north-west of Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has reported on the situation in the city as a result of practices and violations carried out by these factions against the remaining Kurds after the rebels forced them from their homes.
According to the SOHR, “Ankara has given the green light” to the members of the Syrian National Army to “sell” the properties and even the homes of the Syrian Kurds at “nominal prices”, after forcing them to abandon everything and evacuate the area.
The houses are sold at prices ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 for two-story houses. Sources consulted by the Observatory added that "Turkish-backed factions in the city of Afrin are wreaking havoc in the area, and have recently begun selling houses and shops or renting them out as their own property. In addition, the sources have denounced the situation suffered by the Kurds, since according to the observatory “they are being intimidated by these factions [the rebels] as part of the systematic policy of Turkey and the delegated factions to force the remaining residents of Afrin to leave the area." Kurds in the area are afraid to leave their homes, especially at night, for fear of being kidnapped or arrested under various pretexts.
It should be recalled that since 2018 the Kurdish canton of Afrin is under Turkish occupation, after being taken by the Turkish Armed Forces and their allies of the Syrian Free Army and other Islamist factions over the Kurdish People's Protection Units militias.
In this line, SOHR notes that irregularities and human rights violations, including abductions and torture, have increased in the last two years since Turkish forces have occupied the area. All this is happening amidst the silence of the international community and numerous media, the human rights agency has reported.
Based on this situation, the head of the Czech parliamentary group for Syrian Friendship, Stanislav Grospic, has condemned the criminal acts of the terrorists supported by the Turkish regime. Speaking to SANA, Grospic said that “the terrorists and the occupants who support them are not content with the looting and theft of people's property, but they also steal the records that narrate the history of Syrian civilization”, referring to the looting of Syria's national cultural heritage.
Grospic said that these acts demonstrate “the moral degradation of the Turkish occupiers and their terrorist and criminal instruments,” and expressed his confidence that the Syrian Army will free Idlib and thus “put an end to the illegitimate military presence of Turkish and other forces in Syrian territory”.
