How aid organizations with Syrian militias contribute to Turkish war crimes

The Syrian organization “Syrians for truth and justice” (STJ) recently uncovered an illegal settlement project in the Jindires district near Afrin, which is under Turkish occupation, and published a multi-page report on the matter. Three humanitarian aid organizations, the Turkish occupying power and a Syrian opposition militia supported by Turkey are involved in the project.

Agreement of an aid organization with armed Syrian militia
Under the “Ihsan Relief and Development” program of the humanitarian organization “Syrian Forum”, the settlement project began a year after Turkey’s military occupation of the Afrin region in 2018. Satellite images show how hundreds of trees were felled on a mountain slope near the village of Kafr Safra in 2019 for the settlement project. The “Ihsan” organization, in accordance with the Afrin City Council, which is unofficially under the authority of Turkey’s governor Hatay Rahmi Dogan, reached an agreement with the Syrian opposition militia ‘Samarkand Brigade’, which has military and political support from Turkey

The infamous Samarkand Brigade
The ‘Samarkand Brigade’ manages the area around Kafr Safra and Jindires under Turkish leadership. It was formed in 2016 under the leadership of Wael Mousa and consists mainly of fighters from an area of Idlib. The militia is under a high level of Turkish influence and command. In addition to the 600 Turkish lira that the fighters are supposed to receive monthly from the Turkish government, units of this militia also fought as mercenaries in Libya and Azerbaijan. A United Nations Security Council report on child soldiers in armed conflict says the militia is responsible for the deployment of three Syrian children in Libya. The Samarkand Brigade is also responsible for numerous crimes in Jindires. The illegal felling of thousands of trees, arbitrary arrests, extortion, seizure of someone else’s property or the looting of civilian property are some of them.

Houses for the fighters & selection of families
The “Ihsan” organization came to an agreement with this notorious militia for the construction of the illegal settlement, in which the militia was to ensure that the project ran smoothly and in return should be favored with house ownership. According to a planner involved in the project, at least 40 of the 247 houses built have now been handed over to fighters from the Samarkand Brigade and their families. The “Ihsan” organization is therefore also responsible for the allocation of apartments and houses, where families of fighters from other armed factions were also favored. In August, half of the selected families, mostly made up of displaced persons from Aleppo and Idlib, had already moved into the illegal settlement.

Dominion over the settlement
Although most of the new residents are internally displaced persons, the Samarkand Brigade runs the settlement, according to one resident. The militia was tasked with the security of the settlement and they would also act arbitrarily, e.g. when awarding humanitarian aid or through constant security checks of the remaining residents. The settlement covers in total size between 16-20 ha, which corresponds to about 25 larger soccer fields. In addition to the residential buildings, the settlement includes a mosque, a Koran school, a school, a kindergarten, a medical facility, several small shops and small gardens, a water fountain, cobbled streets and gravel paths.

Kuwait as a donor
The “al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation” financed the construction of the mosque and the Koran school. The madrasa, named after Kuwaiti donor Ayad Askar al-Anzi, is overseen and run by Kuwait’s Rahma International Society. The Kuwaiti state is the main sponsor of this organization, which also controls the “al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation”. All organizations involved are registered as humanitarian aid organizations, “Ihsan Relief and Development” as well as the “al-Sham Humanitarian Foundation” in Turkey and the “Rahma International Society” in Kuwait.

The role of the Afrin City Council
The STJ also drew attention to the role of the Afrin City Local Council (ACLC) in the report. As with other settlements, this would have granted the license for construction. The city council is the link between the “Ihsan” organization and the office of the Turkish governor of Hatay, who is also the de facto governor in occupied Afrin. In the name and on behalf of the governor, the ACLC is said to have suggested locations for the settlements to the “Ihsan” organization and facilitated their work.

Role of the occupying power Turkey
Turkey has been an occupying power in Afrin since 2018 and, according to a report by the Bundestag’s scientific service, is therefore also responsible for compliance with all humanitarian guidelines, as stipulated by the regulations of the United Nations. Afrin is unofficially led by Turkey’s governor, Hatay Rahmi Dogan, who has an envoy for each of Afrin’s seven districts, according to some council members. Settlement construction is directly subordinate to the governor himself. Although officially the deputies of the city council would report to the Syrian interim government, practically all would receive the instructions from Hatay. They would also receive salaries from Turkey and also from Qatar. An employee of the “Ihsan” organization confirmed the free licensing and guarantees by the ACLC, despite protests from people from Kafr Safra. The STJ noted that the ACLC said nothing publicly about the illegal settlement.

Compatibility with Syrian and international law
At the end of the report, the STJ reviews the compatibility of the settlement with Syrian and international law. As a result, all parties involved, regardless of aid organization status, are violating several laws of Syrian law. Even in international law, classification as humanitarian organizations would not be enough to simply break a country’s law. In addition, it is clear in this case that humanitarian principles are being broken by favoring the “Samarkand Brigade” as an armed party to the conflict. This denies access for humanitarian aid to civilians. The aid organizations involved here could also commit crimes themselves, since they contribute to the forced demographic change by resettling other population groups and ignoring the displaced local population. According to the Geneva Convention, as the occupying power, Turkey bears full responsibility for the events in Afrin. As a result, Turkey has failed in many of its obligations under the Geneva Convention and violated some articles.

Indirect involvement of the UN and NGOs in forced demographic change
The new STJ report proves once again that the Turkish State wants to bring about a demographic change with the help of its Syrian henchmen in formerly Kurdish-dominated Afrin. This was already mentioned in a report by the Bundestag’s scientific service. As an occupying power, Turkey is thus clearly violating the Geneva Convention and is thus committing a public war crime. Nine such settlements are known in Afrin to date, and most of them as documented in this case. But the real scandal is that the UN and other well-known NGOs are indirectly supporting this population shift. The aid organizations listed in this report have also been involved in other settlement projects in Afrin and list UN institutions such as UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Food Program on their websites, as well as world-renowned NGOs such as Save the Children, Welthungerhilfe or those commissioned by the German federal government acting company for international cooperation (giz) as a partner. The international community and the aid organization must not participate in the Turkish occupation policy and must take the local population into account when designing humanitarian aid. The right of return for the displaced population of Afrin must be protected and granted in accordance with international humanitarian law.