Sixty olive trees belonging to Yezidi Kurds in Afrin are being cut off permanently
ARK News… Trees belonging to Yezidi Kurds in the village of Feqîra in the Afrin region of Syrian Kurdistan were permanently uprooted, and thirty tons of firewood were stolen.
A source from Afrin reported to ARK today, November 29, 2023, “Sixty trees belonging to Aziz Othman and Youssef Iso, two Yezidi Kurds, each of whom had thirty trees, were completely uprooted a few days ago, and more than thirty tons of firewood were stolen.”
He added, "The truncation took place in the plain of the village in a location called 'Kalam Sewi'. The village is administratively affiliated with the city of Jenderes and is under the control of Al-Hamzat militants."
The source confirmed, "The two farmers suffered a direct loss estimated at 4,500 US dollars, while the indirect loss was 20,000 US dollars, because the tree will not bear fruit until many years later."
The continuation of the operations of felling fruitful and forest trees, which have become a serious threat to the forests in Afrin. Special video scenes a few days ago showed the effects of unjust cutting by the factions and displaced Arabs on the forests of the Jenderes-Shiye Deveyol Road, as they have become threatened by desertification after they were covered with cypress trees and pine.
The sources confirm that the felling operations aim to harvest and trade firewood, and the prices of one ton reach about 150 US dollars for olive trees and 100 dollars for forest trees, cypresses and pine trees.
According to organizations working to document violations in Afrin, more than one and a half million trees have been cut down since March 2018.
Yesterday, November 28, 2023, the media office of the Ministry of Defense of the “Syrian Interim Government” affiliated with the Syrian Opposition Coalition published a statement under the title “Seeds of Trust...Protecting olive groves and returning them to their owners in the Afrin region,” in which it indicated that protecting olive groves constitutes A priority for its affiliate, the Syrian National Army.
According to the statement, “Since 2018, approximately 187 thousand olive trees, which were identified and protected by the Ministry of Defense within the scope of temporary protection by the Syrian Interim Government in Afrin, have been returned to their owners, as the area of the lands that were returned to their owners amounted to about 20 A thousand dunams.”
The General Authority of the Syrian National Coalition held its 69th session of meetings, Thursday, November 23, 2023, and stressed in its final statement the need to hold perpetrators of violations and crimes against civilians accountable, and to take decisive steps to stop the multiplicity of tax authorities and the need to prevent the imposition and collection of any taxes except by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, of the Syrian Interim Government in the areas under its control.
The Afrin region in Syrian Kurdistan is under the control of the armed factions affiliated with the Syrian Interim Government, and civilians there are groaning from the continuing violations and phenomena of armed factions, the large number of arbitrary arrests without arrest warrants, and taxes and royalties in large sums of money, amid demands for the necessity of ending armed manifestations within populated areas.
162
