After the attacks launched by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the paramilitary groups it supports on January 20, 2018, a new human tragedy is added every day in the Afrin Canton of Northern and Eastern Syria, which came under the control of Salafist groups. According to United Nations (UN) reports, more than a thousand women have been abducted so far in the city, which has been turned into a center for plunder, extortion, rape, ethnic cleansing and Turkification on March 18.  The fate of most of the abducted women is unknown.

 

According to the statement made by Afrin Non-Governmental Organizations on October 25, in Shehba, 84 women were murdered in the city between 18 March 2018 and 25 October 2021. While 6 of the women ended their lives, sexual assault crimes were committed against 71 women. Nayele Mihemed, a member of the Afrin Human Rights Association, evaluated the "war crimes" committed by the TAF and the paramilitary groups it supports, from the beginning of their attacks on Afrin, and the experiences of women.

 

WAR CRIME COMMITTED

 

 Nayele Mihemed said that the brutality that has been experienced since the TSK and the paramilitary forces it supports entered Afrin is unprecedented in world history, adding that what happened was a war crime. Noting that most of the war crimes committed were deliberately committed against women, Nayele Mihemed said, “After the occupation, all evil was done against women. They were murdered, harassed, raped, forced into marriage. All the rights they had gained with the Rojava Revolution were taken away and they were imprisoned in their houses. 84 women, whom we identified as non-governmental organizations in Afrin, were murdered, but the actual numbers are much higher than that. All 6 women had to commit suicide as they could not stand what they had experienced. Every day, every day, news of kidnapping comes in. The number exceeded a thousand. "Sexual assault crimes against 71 women were committed.”

 

FIRST ATTACK ON WOMEN

 

 Nayele Mihemed said that the crimes against women continue and they want to make sure that other people who stay in Afrin leave the city because of the crimes they committed against women. Emphasizing that crimes against humanity started with the entry of the Turkish Armed Forces and paramilitary forces into Afrin, Nayele Mihemed said, "Women's will was strong, they were aware that if their will was broken, the will of the whole society would be broken."

 

SHOULD BE JUDGED

 

Nayele Mihemed, who called on international women's organizations that defend women's rights not to remain silent about the atrocities in Afrin, continued as follows: "The protection of women's rights is protected in international conventions. There is a need to defend together against all crimes against women. It is stated in the contracts that rape, harassment and torture are crimes. Turkey has been committing all these crimes for many years. It is our call to all women, defend the rights of women in Afrin as well. Say 'stop' to Turkey for solidarity. All women should put pressure on the governments of the states they are in against the crimes committed in Afrin. Turkey should be tried for the crimes it has committed in international courts and should be convicted for every crime it has committed.”