ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Members of a Turkey-backed militia group in northwest Syria are preventing Kurdish farmers from harvesting their olives, a local source said.
Commanders of the Sulaiman Shah Brigade have blocked Kurdish farmers from entering their olive orchards in the Kurzele village of Afrin region, a local source to Rudaw on Saturday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Seventeen Kurdish families, who have around 4,000 olive trees, have been affected.
The Sulaiman Shah Brigade is based in northern Syria and is accused of numerous human rights violations, especially against Kurdish residents. In 2023, the United States sanctioned the group for “serious human rights abuses committed in northern Syria, including abduction, severe physical abuse, and rape.”
Olives are an important economic crop in Afrin.
Abdulrahman Korajo is a Germany-based Kurdish activist from the enclave. He said Arab settlers have confiscated and stolen olives from Kurdish farmers and local authorities have done nothing to stop them.
“The people of Kurzele village have been banned from entering their farms. Arabs affiliated with this brigade harvest the olives in the light of day but there is no one to hold them accountable. Our people of Afrin have been working these farms for years but Arabs have confiscated and stolen them,” he said.
Afrin was invaded by Turkey and its Syrian proxies in 2018 after years of Kurdish rule under the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Human rights groups and the United Nations have published reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention and pillaging, among other violations in Afrin since 2018.
Hussein Omer contributed to this article
