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Turkey launched a military operation in the Efrin region of North East Syria in January 2018 and occupied the region according to Hawar News. The region has been under Turkish state rule since then. Many civilians in the region have reportedly been subjected to severe mistreatment and acts of barbarism by the mercenaries of Turkey.
M.B. spoke about what he has witnessed in Efrin and said: “Whatever we do, acts of barbarity by outside forces target us. I did not leave my house to interfere in any incident. However, on this occasion, an explosion occurred near my house and I escaped death”.
Acts of barbarity everywhere
M.B. also stated that they had no sense of ‘life safety’ or ‘life security’ due to the clashes amongst Turkish-backed mercenaries and said: “There was a huge explosion when mercenaries occupied Beride Street. We were injured during the explosion. Our neighbours took us to hospital. After treatment, we saw that all our belongings had been looted when we returned home. The mercenaries have been looting the homes and properties of city residents. No one has ‘life safety’ in Efrin. Mercenaries were fighting with each other because they could not share the things they had stolen from the people of the region. For that reason, several civilians were killed through their actions”.
Villages evacuated
M.B. also described the way that the demography of Şiyê village in Efrin had changed: “Now there are only 15 houses in that village that had 60 houses once. Houses are emptied and mercenaries place their families in those houses. They seized people’s olive gardens. The rate of Kurdish people in Efrin’s population was 97% but now that rate has decreased to 15%”.
Civilians are being kidnapped
M.B. also described how civilians are being kidnapped. Stating that a Kurdish woman from Cîbar village was kidnapped by mercenaries and killed, he noted that her body was left in a place in Derdaa region. M.B. said that there were agents amongst the civilians who worked for the mercenaries. Other civilian people were kidnapped everyday after the information passed on by the agents was shared with the mercenaries. M.B. added that mercenaries also kidnapped people to levy a ransom and said that those crimes were committed especially by Sultan Süleyman Shah and Emşat mercenaries.
