On March 18, 2018, Turkey launched “Operation Olive Branch” in cooperation with Syrian rebel forces. As part of the operation, Turkish forces entered northern Syria and occupied the Syrian town of Afrin, most of whose inhabitants were ethnic Kurds.
The Turkish-backed Syrian rebels committed war crimes against Kurdish residents. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that these forces controlling Afrin looted shops, houses and cars. Many of the Kurds who resisted were killed. Those surviving were forced to flee, and the Turks took control of the town.
See: No Holiday Cheer Living Under Occupation
Today, some two-and-a-half years after the occupation, Turkish forces still control Afrin. After the ethnic cleansing was carried out upon its Kurdish residents, the town became a mixed Syrian-Turkish town. The lands around were expropriated, and houses were built on them. According to international law these events match the definition of occupation and illegal construction of settlements.
One of the countries financing the construction of these settlements is none other than Kuwait, which has repeatedly...
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