To the Attention of:
- The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing;
- The Special Rapporteur on Truth, Justice and Reparation;
- The Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues;
- The Special Rapporteur on Internally Displaced Persons;
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Introduction
This submission is respectfully presented by Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) to Your Excellencies, in your official capacities, to draw your distinguished attention to the consistent and systematic pattern of violations in the Kurdish-majority Afrin/Efrîn region of northwestern Syria, beginning with its takeover by Turkish forces and allied factions of the Syrian National Army (SNA) during Operation Olive Branch in early 2018 and continuing through July 2025.
Based on 39 field interviews and corroborating open sources, this report documents housing, land, and property (HLP) violations in Afrin, including widespread seizures of private property, looting and destruction of homes and facilities, arbitrary detentions, and financial extortion. These acts collectively aim to dispossess owners or obstruct their access to their property.
According to testimonies collected by STJ, the violations have impacted at least 53 homes, 20 businesses, including olive mills, and 27 agricultural plots with approximately 11,000 olive trees, although the actual numbers are likely higher. The abuses also extended to agricultural and industrial equipment, as well as private vehicles. These acts took place under a hybrid de facto system that uses nominal civilian institutions to hide the exercise of real military and security control, effectively turning seizure, looting, and extortion into a pressure tactic targeting homes, property, and livelihoods, worsening patterns of forced displacement and increasing fears of return.
These facts give rise to direct legal responsibility on the part of both the Syrian Interim Government and the Government of Türkiye, given their effective control over the area and their international legal duties to maintain public order, protect civilians, prevent looting and unlawful property seizures, and provide justice and reparations for victims. We submit these complaints to call for urgent measures to end ongoing violations and to create an independent, binding mechanism that guarantees the unconditional and free restitution of rights to their rightful owners.
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Background
On 20 January 2018, the Turkish Armed Forces, together with allied SNA factions, initiated a major military operation called Operation Olive Branch to seize control of the Kurdish-majority region of Afrin in the northwest countryside of Aleppo. The operation followed a heavy period of aerial and artillery bombardment that struck many villages and towns, resulting in significant civilian casualties and widespread destruction of property and infrastructure.[1]
By 18 March 2018, the military takeover of Afrin city and its surrounding areas was complete, with reports of hundreds of civilians killed and tens of thousands of original residents displaced. The events did not end with the military gaining control; they led to the creation of new administrative structures, including local councils, military and civil police forces, and courts. However, these bodies lacked genuine independence or credibility and mainly functioned as figureheads under the influence of armed factions. In reality, real power stayed in the hands of military and security leaders who operated under Ankara’s direct oversight.[2]
This overlap between civilian institutions and actual military power established a system based on dual authority, where official organizations act as a façade to manage a de facto order enforced by factions. Under this imbalance, violations such as property seizures, arbitrary arrests, and coercive taxes have become routine practices, sustained by an illegal economic system closely linked to armed strength.
In its December 2024 report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI-Syria) documented that the patterns of looting and appropriation of Kurdish civilians’ property in Afrin had become coordinated and systematic, amounting to the war crime of pillage and violating the right to possession and property.[3]
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Facts
Between May 2024 and July 2025, STJ carried out a series of field studies that included 39 interviews with direct victims or relatives of victims of property rights violations in Afrin. Of the participants, 37 were from the Kurdish community and only two from the Arab community, all of whom were residents of Afrin’s seven subdistricts: Afrin Center/Navenda Efrîn, Shaykh al-Hadid/Şiyê, Rajo/Reco/Raju, Maabatli/Mabeta, Jindires/Cindirês, Sharran/Şera, and Bulbul/Blble.
Interviewees include Syrians living both inside and outside the country. Twelve have returned to Afrin, either temporarily or permanently, in attempts to reclaim their confiscated properties. Others remain internally displaced in cities like Aleppo, Qamishli, Tell Rifaat, and Raqqa, while some have sought refuge abroad, including in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and several European countries.
A total of 21 interviews were conducted online using encrypted applications to ensure security, while 18 took place in person at carefully selected locations that provided privacy and protection for the witnesses. All interviewees were informed about the nature and goals of the research, and their informed consent was obtained. Due to fears of retaliation by Turkish forces or allied factions, participants chose to conceal their identities; therefore, STJ used pseudonyms in the report.
Along with the interviews, the researchers used various open sources: reports from human rights and UN organizations, video clips, social media posts, and property documents from some owners who managed to save them during displacement. This report helped verify and cross-check the testimonies, providing a clearer view of the scale and ongoing nature of the violations.
Testimonies suggest that the violations were not isolated incidents but rather ongoing policies implemented on a large scale. Reported practices included forced displacement, seizure of homes and land, arbitrary arrests, financial extortion for release, and systematic torture. These violations were linked to specific military units within the SNA and allied factions, and there was also documented direct and continuous oversight by Turkish authorities over the administrative and security structures that enabled these practices.
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[1] “Three Years on ‘Operation Olive Branch’; Afrin Residents Enjoy Security (Report) [in Arabic],” Anadolu Agency, 20 December 2021, https://www.aa.com.tr/ar/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1/3-%D8%A3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%BA%D8%B5%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%B9%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1/2116133 (last accessed: 10 July 2025).
[2] ” Türkiye Dominates the Military Structure in Northern Syria: Influence in Exchange for Loyalty,” [in Arabic] An-Nahar, 18 May 2025, https://www.annahar.com/arab-world/arabian-levant/209669/%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B0-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7 (last accessed: 13 July 2025).
[3] Report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, (A/HRC/58/CRP.2), issued 6 December 2024, para. 87, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coisyria/a-hrc-58-crp2-coi-syria-20250206.pdf (last accessed: 13 July 2025).