Erdogan’s forces, proxies take over Syria’s antiquities

Mustafa Kamel

After Turkish forces and their terrorist proxies invaded and captured Afrin, Turkish-backed factions have been still continuing their violations against civilians and the culture of Syria.

Ankara’s armed proxies have sought to dig for antiquities in their deployment areas for extra cash.

These militia brought in bulldozers a week ago to excavate archaeological hills in Afrin, and in March 2020, some Turkish equipment and machinery were spotted in Gunders Hill to search for burials and monuments underground.

Those thefts were not the first by the factions of Ankara in Syria, but they were preceded by several thefts that Ankara sought in order to erase the history of the region, by resorting to excavating and selling antiquities in Turkey.

The Sultan Murad Division in August 2019 started  excavating the land near the Bolbol area in Afrin, north-east Aleppo.

Syrian Observatory sources say that heavy diggers and earth-moving machineries, affiliated to Turkish-backed factions, started excavation and digging in the archaeological hill in “Arabu Arab Ushaghi” village of Maabatli township in Afrin countryside a week ago.

According to SOHR sources, Turkish-backed factions have felled most of cupressus and oak trees around the hill, they have also felled olive trees whose age exceeds 50 years.

The Ankara factions continue to attack the Syrian civilians who are in the areas controlled by these factions, and have not stopped interrupting cypress and oak trees and stealing perennial olive trees and shipping them to Turkey.

These factions also keep assaulting Syrian civilians, raiding their houses and violating women, spreading chaos across the city.

Moreover, these factions demolished the houses of civilians, over 20 houses, in the village of Acharkrak, displacing its residents.

Reliable sources have also confirmed to SOHR that Turkish-backed factions or the so-called “Syrian National Army” are selling the homes of displaced Kurds those who were forced to leave their areas due to the Turkish military operation.

This comes at a time when Turkish forces have introduced logistical reinforcements towards their positions within the de-escalation zone, where trucks carrying concrete blocks and logistical equipment entered through the Kafrlossen border crossing and headed towards the Turkish sites.