In early 2018, Turkey illegally invaded and occupied Afrin, Syria’s oldest Kurdish region. Hundreds of civilians were killed as residential areas, hospitals, and schools were bombed. The vast majority of Afrin’s population— over 300,000 people— was forcibly displaced. The region’s cultural and religious diversity was obliterated in a targeted act of ethnic cleansing.
Today, Afrin suffers under a brutal military occupation. Turkey and its allied forces have engaged in forced population transfers, arbitrary detentions, kidnapping, torture, human trafficking, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity. Its former residents who were forced to flee their homes live in inaccessible refugee camps in Shahba, Syria.
The international community, human rights organizations, and mainstream media have all been silent. We are documenting the facts and stories that they refuse to, as we call for an end to the Turkish occupation of Afrin, the return of all displaced Afrin residents who so choose to their homes, and justice for all crimes committed against civilians there.