afrinpost – Exclusive
Today, Thursday, Our website obtained pictures showing the destruction in the archaeological site of “Kaluta Castle” – Sherawa sub-district, which was subjected on 6/6/2021 to artillery shelling by the Turkish forces stationed in Afrin and Azaz.
The Turkish forces had intensified targeting the villages of Sherawa sub-district (not under Turkey’s control) with heavy artillery and forced the residents there to leave their villages and properties. The shelling has also led to the damage of archaeological sites within these villages: Soghanake, Zarnatiyah, Mayassa, Aqiba, Ziyarah, Kaluta and its castle, as well as a massive destruction of the people’s property. The shelling also resulted in the death of the child, Zainab Hussein Ibrahim, and the injury of her father and younger brother.
The Directorate of Antiquities of Afrin has denounced the violations of the Turkey and its Muslim Brotherhood militias against archaeological sites in occupied Afrin, the latest of which was the targeting of the archaeological site of Kalutah Castle in Sherawa sub-district with artillery shells.
This came in a statement read by the Directorate today, Thursday, in the presence of a number of members of the Antiquities Directorate and members of civil institutions in al-Shahba canton, carrying pictures documenting the crimes of the Turkey against archaeological sites, in the square of Barkhdan camp.
The statement said that the Turkish occupation and its militias have continued for more than three years to destroy the cultural heritage of the Kurdish region of Afrin in northern Syria, by sabotaging and bulldozing archaeological sites, hills and religious sites belonging to different religions and sects in the region.
The statement pointed out that the Directorate has documented more than 55 sites and archaeological hills and about 20 religious shrines that were vandalized and destroyed directly by the Turkish authorities and its militias using bulldozers and heavy machinery, not to mention hitting the moral heritage by changing the names of the squares, streets and the names of Kurdish villages and replacing them with Turkish names that have nothing to do with the history of the region and its original Kurdish population, in an effort to consolidate the process of demographic and cultural change in the region.
The directorate added that the Turkish forces on 6/6/2021, shelled Kaluta Castle which is considered one of the holy sites for the people of the region and the adherents of the Christian religion, especially the Maronites, due to the close connection between the site and Saint Maron, who lived and worshiped at this site. Although the UNESCO has provided the Turkish state with the coordinates of World Heritage sites, since the beginning of the Turkish war on January 20, 2018, nevertheless, Ankara did not give any weight to these recommendations.
The Directorate of Antiquities – Afrin Region appealed to the Security Council and the relevant UN organizations to activate their decisions, agreements and charters that Turkey has signed, to stop the violations that are taking place against archaeological sites until this moment, and to prosecute those responsible for these war crimes, as these sites are the property of all humanity and to put pressure on the Turkish state to withdraw its forces and factions loyal to it, which have transformed a safe area into a hotbed of tension in which people fear living despite the end of the battles inside, hoping that their statement will receive attentive ears and an open mind for peace.
Photos source: Human Rights Organization – Afrin
