According to a report by the “Afrin-Syria Human Rights Organization,” local authorities in the city of Afrin, under the supervision of Turkish intelligence, transferred between 600 and 700 Kurdish prisoners from Afrin prisons to Al-Rai and Hor Kilis prisons, northeast of Aleppo, about a month ago. The report pointed out that the authorities issued “harsh sentences” against many of these detainees “without following the conditions of fair trials,” according to the report.
Arrests and enforced disappearances since the Turkish army took control of Afrin
Since 18 March 2018, after the Turkish army, with the support of the Syrian National Army/opposition factions, took control of the predominantly Kurdish area of Afrin, these factions arrested thousands of residents of the area. The Turkish security services participated in the arrests, as some detainees were transferred to Turkey or placed in prisons under the control of the factions. The report confirmed that the detainees transferred to Al-Rai and Hour Kilis prisons were subjected to”torture, ill-treatment and forced absenteeism”, while being prevented from communicating with their families during the investigation period.
Al-Rai prison is under the control of factions loyal to Turkey
The city of Al-Rai, which Turkey calls “Joban Bay”, is under the control of the factions of the Syrian National Army under Turkish auspices, where sensitive facilities are stationed. The Sultan Murad Division, led by Fahim Ahmed Issa, a Turkmen minority close to the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party, is the most influential faction in the region. The report indicated that the arrests were made “without evidence justifying them,” except suspicions, accusations, or finding pictures of Kurdish figures in the homes of detainees during sweeps in the villages of Afrin, under the pretext of “searching for weapons.” These operations mainly targeted young people or those suspected of sympathizing with the Kurdish forces that controlled Afrin between 2012 and 2018.
Transferring detainees to hide them and exchanging them later
According to the organization’s sources, the detainees were transferred to Al-Rai and Hour Kilis prisons with the aim of “removing them and hiding them from sight” and preventing their families from visiting them, in preparation for their use in prisoner exchanges with the Syrian Democratic Forces, based on the political and security conditions and the extent of the parties’ commitment to the 10 March 2025 agreement signed between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian Transitional Government.
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Note: This is a machine translation of the original text in Arabic.اقرأ المزيد