The Afrin region of North-East Syria continues to suffer under the Turkish occupation, as the demographic change in the region is further entrenched.
After cutting down hundreds of trees, a Turkish NGO, the Istanbul-based Humanitarian Relief Foundation, helped fund the construction of a 300 house settlement in the al-Zaydiyah neighborhood. This was done in coordination with the Turkish-backed local council that governs. Most often, those resettled in Afrin are Syrians displaced from elsewhere in Syria, some of whom are the families of pro-Turkish rebel fighters.
The Sultan Murad Division of the Syrian National Army, a coalition of Turkey’s proxy militias, supervised the logging of trees in the area.
Many NGOs linked to the Muslim Brotherhood from Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and other countries have funded the construction of settlements in Afrin since Turkey occupied the region in 2018.
The Hevdesti Association, a victims advocacy organization based in North-East Syria, has stated that Afrin continues to be rife with settlement building and property seizure. The organization has stated that properties are also turned into military bases, or sold by SNA groups without providing any compensation to the owners of said properties.