Tag Archives: Turkey

Syria: Independent International Commission of Inquiry Reports Human Rights Violations in Afrin

Chairman of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria during a press conference. Photo Source: United Nations.

On 13 March 2023, the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria issued its report on the status of human rights and relevant violations in the country between 1 July and 31 December 2022. The 44-page report builds on 467 direct interviews, carried out physically or online, covering various forms of human rights violations perpetrated by all parties to the conflict …

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Syria/Afrin: Protests Held Worldwide Condemning the Jindires Crime

Protests Held Worldwide Condemning the Jindires Crime. The photo: from Shiar Khalil

Renouncing the Killings of four Kurdish civilians on the 2023 Newroz Eve in Jinderes town by members of the al-Sharqiya Army faction, after they lit Nowruz fires in front of their house, a number of Syrian and Kurdish activists around the world organized several initiatives and various activities across European and Arab capital cities. These activities included peaceful protests and …

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Syria: Satellite Images Reveal Extensive Logging in 114 Forest Patches in Afrin

Extensive illegal logging at the Deir Sawan forest patches in Sharran in the Afrin region, controlled by several factions of the 3rd Legion of the Türkiye-backed Syrian National Army. Taken in November 2022. Credit: STJ.

Executive Summary In this report, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) and Lêlûn Association for Victims in Afrin reveal illegal logging operations in 114 forest sites in Syria’s Kurdish-majority region of Afrin. Based on the extent of the concentration of tree-cover loss, STJ monitored: High degradation of the forests in (57) locations, where perpetrators cleared the forests almost trees entirely. …

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Syria/Afrin: 155 Syrian Organizations Condemn the Killing of Kurdish Civilians on the Eve of Celebrating Newroz

Syrian Arabs and Kurds protest in Jindires town in the Afrin region. Holding the slogan "5 years of injustice, enough!", the protestors condemned the killing of 4 civilian Kurds for celebrating Newroz/Nawroz. Credit: Photojournalist Ammar al-Zeer.

On the eve of Newroz, corresponding to March 20, 2023, some fighters of Jaysh al-Sharqiya Faction/The Construction and Liberation Movement, affiliated with the Turkish-backed opposition Syrian National Army (SNA), killed four unarmed Kurdish civilians in Jindires city in Afrin countryside, northwestern Syria, on the backdrop of celebrating Newroz Day and lighting its bonfire; one of the most essential rituals adopted …

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Curricula in Afrin: Between “Turkification” and Restrictions on the Kurdish Language

تلاميذ سوريون أثناء إحدى الحصص يحملون الأعلام التركية بعد العام 2018. عفرين/سوريا. المصدر: Anadoluimages

Invoking the spirit of Article 43 of The Hague Regulations of 1907, Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the occupying power from making fundamental changes to the institutions and laws existing in the occupied territories 1. Background Contemporary Syria, since its inception, has not once witnessed official recognition of the Kurdish language, with its use constantly banned in …

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