One year on, is Afrin improving for Kurds?
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The head of Afrin Local Council said on Tuesday that Kurdish language is being taught at schools and it is an official language in the council, claim that the situation is much better for Kurds compared to last year.
“Now Kurdish language is being studies in schools and at our council in addition to two other languages,” Saeed Sulaiman, head of the council, told Rudaw on the sidelines of a panel organized by Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM) on Tuesday in Ankara.
The panel discussed the first anniversary of the two-month Turkish offensive against the Kurdish enclave Afrin in northern Syria, known as Operation Olive Branch that started in January 2018.
Sulaiman, a Kurd, admitted that there were crimes and looting in Afrin in the beginning of the offensive but this has decreased.
He denied claims that Kurds are being oppressed in Afrin, but admitted “there might be few small issues.”
Afrin Sanayi ve Ticaret Odas? Ba?kan? Nas?r Hüsso: Zeytin Dal? Harekat?'n?n k?sa sürede tamamlanm?? olmas? Afrin'deki alt ve üst yap?n?n bozulmamas?n? sa?lad?, ?ehir ayakta duruyor. Bu nedenle yat?r?m için davet etti?imiz i?adamlar? bu konuda istekli davran?yorlar. pic.twitter.com/4zQV2Ab7NU
— ORSAM (@orsamtr) February 12, 2019
Afrin is famous for its olive trees. They are a main source of livelihood for a considerable number of residents. After the Turkish takeover, with the help of its Syrian proxies, the olives and their by-products have been exported via Turkey and sold to other European countries under the name Afrin.
“Afrin” olive oil has been seen on grocery market shelves in Germany and Spain.
Activists and politicians have lashed out at their governments calling on businessmen to not purchase the “plundered” product, or for it to be banned.
Turkish olive producers have also criticized the move, claiming that it has driven down prices of their products.
"Turkey has enough olive oil for its own market and for exports… Turkey produces 16 percent of the world's total olives and eight percent of its olive oil. It doesn't need olive oil from Afrin," said one commentator in the Dunya newspaper.
The Chairman of Afrin’s Industry and Commerce Chamber Nasser Husso did not deny the claim, but added that they have no other option.
“Only 25 percent of Afrin’s olives have been exported. This [low exportation level] is due to certain obstacles such as military operations. We try to export as much as possible,” he told Rudaw on the sidelines of the panel.
Husso, an Arab, said during the panel that “the normalization of Afrin is very speedy. For example, with the support of Turkey, a university will be founded in Afrin soon,” tweeted ORSAM.
He also said that Turkey is working on improving the electricity of the region. During last year’s operation looting was a massive problem. Electricity poles were stripped of their wires for copper. Tractors and farm equipment were also appropriated.
The UN estimates the operation displaced around 300,000 people. Turkey, which says it has hosted 3 million Syrians during the conflict that began in 2011, repeatedly has vowed to return Afrin to its rightful residents.
Prior to 2018, Afrin was one of three cantons run by the predominately-Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG). They have vowed to fight a guerilla insurgency against Turkey and its proxies until the district is again under their control.
