As stated by Human Rights Watch, Turkey is an occupying power in North and East Syria and Turkey has taken effective control of the Afrin region since 2018, when Turkey and Turkish affiliated armed groups invaded Afrin.
Feride İbo, a member of Kongreya Star-Afrin, pointed to the serious and systematic human rights violations in Afrin and also to the many crimes against women. There have been numerous violations of human rights in the region and the issue has been reported by many human rights organisations themselves including the latest report of Human Rights Watch, yet the international community continues to remain silent according to İbo.
“One thousand, two hundred women have been kidnapped in Afrin, the whereabouts of most them remains unknown. The world must take action against these crimes against the women of Afrin,” she said.