Olive Afrin steals .. Swiss accusations of Turkey to sell to Europe

ARK News: A Swiss parliament accused the Turkish government of stealing olive oil from Afrin and then selling it as Turkish origin in EU countries, including Spain, according to the British newspaper "The Telegraph".

Bernhard Guhl, a member of the conservative Democratic Party in Switzerland, warned the government against exploiting olive oil, which Turkey "exhales" from Syria to sell in the EU single market, claiming to be a Turkish producer. He added that "the proceeds of these sales are used to fund the armed militias of Ankara.”

"Olive groves are being looted by Turkish forces and their loyal militia in the Turkish-occupied Afrin," Guhl said.

"The olives they steal are being sold to Spain, and the looting and sale of EU countries are expected to continue," Guhl added.

Theft and commercial fraud
Guhl's warnings came in the context of a proposal submitted to the national parliament in Switzerland, asking about the actions being taken to investigate the trade and revenue that could be earned as a result of those crimes.

The Swiss parliamentarian said: "It may not matter if the final destination is Spain or Germany, but it is very important that the State or States concerned open a criminal investigation into whether the companies are trading in stolen olives or olive oil."

According to the Spanish newspaper Público, that the Turkish government uses a number of intermediary companies to export olive oil which seized from areas previously controlled by the Kurds to Spain.

The newspaper also quoted from sources in the region as saying that the Syrian olive oil is mixed with a Turkish product before it is exported and put on fake stickers.

The File "Turkish looting" of olive Afrin, according to the newspaper "Público"also included data which indicate that the amount of last year's harvest, worth about 70 million euros were sold in the Spanish wholesale market and it has been allocated 17 million euros for the arming of Syrian militias loyal to Turkey.

The armed factions backed by Turkey took control of the city of Afrin Kurdistan of Syria which is located to the south of the Turkish border, after having wrested from the Kurdish units in March 2018.

Turkish tacit recognition

On the other hand, Turkish media quoted a statement by the Turkish Minister of Agriculture Bakir Bak Demrli, in which he confirmed that his government plans to obtain olive oil produced in Afrin, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the PYD rebels, which Ankara considers a separatist terrorist movement.

Pointing out that Turkey is the third largest exporter of imported olive oil to the EU after Tunisia and Morocco.

The Telegraph newspaper has sought to get comment from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture on the news, but it did not get an answer yet, as the comments of the readers of the newspaper, saying that the scandal is not the first one, and that "Ankara traded in the oil that was stolen by the ISIS, and what was hidden was greater."

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