Within the last three years many atrocities committed by Turkish-backed mercenaries have been reported from Afrin.
In the last 18 months alone, 83 women were killed in Afrin, according to the data collected by the Human Rights Organisation-Afrin.
The organisation also stated that they have documented thousands of other atrocities committed against women in Afrin, including physical violence, sexual abuse, rape and kidnappings.
“Many crimes and violent acts are committed against women in Afrin. Since the occupation, 200 women have been kidnapped. The information we share regarding the crimes committed within the last three years and six months is documented by us directly,” said Nayile Mahmoud, a member of the Human Rights Organisation-Afrin, to ANHA.
She stated that in the last 18 months alone 83 women have been killed, including 5 women who committed suicide in order to avoid falling into the hands of Turkish affiliated gangs; 216 women suffered serious injuries and 70 women were reportedly raped.
Mahmoud also shared the information that within the last six months 25 women were kidnapped and they have not been heard of since. “There were also two children with them. Eliye Ednan Cuma (13) and Rûya Mehmûd Xatir (6),” she said.
Among the 25 kidnapped women there is also 60-year-old Emine Mistefa, however, the identities of the other women are unknown, Mahmoud said and added that their efforts to identify those kidnapped and their whereabouts continue.
Mahmoud said they recorded 70 cases of rape and 216 women who have been wounded as a result of attacks of the local armed groups backed by Turkey. Among the kidnapped and wounded, there are also children, she noted.
She also adressed the demographic change in Afrin. With members of mercenaries and their families being settled into the homes left behind those locals who were forcibly displaced, she said, “The Kurdish population in Afrin, which was around 90 percent before the occupation, has drastically reduced to around 23 percent.”
“No one can hide the facts. The actions and crimes of the Turkish state have been documented,” Mahmoud said. “But there is much more to it than meets the eye or than we have been able to record. There are hundreds of women being raped and tortured daily in Afrin’s prisons.”
A member of the Star Congress Diplomatic Relations Committee, Suzan Mustafa also told ANHA that every single day crimes are being committed against women in Afin. “The information we receive on a daily basis is very painful. Gangs backed by the Turkish state kidnap and smuggle women to Turkey on a daily basis under the name of marriage,” she said.
“Several women who were jailed in Afrin prisons and wanted to remain anonymous shared this information with us. Unacceptable acts and atrocities are being committed against women in Afrin prisons.”
