Afrinpost-Special
Some Kurdish citizens have abandoned harvesting their olive season, after the huge royalties imposed by the Islamic militias affiliated with the Turkish occupation and the Muslim Brotherhood organization in the occupied Kurdish region of Afrin since March 2018.
According to the correspondents of Afrinpost, the popular discontent with the royalties imposed by the militias on Kurdish civilians has led some of them to abandon their seasons, as they will gain nothing from it, after the huge sums they put in to care for trees throughout the current year.
The correspondent indicated that the citizens “Mustafa Abu Othman” and “Omar Ali” from the village of Baadina / Adanli, have given up on harvesting the olive season after the huge sums imposed by the armed men of the “Ahrar al-Sharqiya” militia on them, especially since they own less than 200 trees.
The reporter said that the militants imposed 4-5 US dollars on each tree, and this is considered a huge amount considering the production of each tree, and in the same context the militia of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade, known as Al-Amshat, imposed 10 dollars on each tree in Shiye / Sheikh al-Hadid sub-district.
Likewise, a source from Afrin told our correspondent that the Turkish occupation prevented any agent of the people who are outside Afrin from harvesting olives, as they say: “Those outside Afrin are all affiliated with the party,” referring to the Autonomous Administration.
According to the source, this step aims to steal the olive season belonging to the people who were displaced due to the Turkish occupation of Afrin.
In the same context, the reporter said that a checkpoint of the “Ahrar al-Sharqiya” militia near the village of Ain Hajar on the road between Afrin and Rajo imposes heavy royalties on olive loads, indicating that the checkpoint takes five bags (sacks) from each load, and if the number is less than five, they seize all the loads, and this is what causes a state of frustration among the people, as happened with the citizens “Muhammad Jouqa,” “Ahmed Sheikh Nasan,” and “Haj Muhammad Amin.”
Settlers and gunmen this year, entered the groves of the people and pick the season by force, and even expel the owners who tried to prevent them and attacked some as well.
Farmers in Afrin spend half of the sums they earn from the olive season on trees, and this year the militants impose heavy royalties, and this is what the other half is stolen from them as well.
