Afrin: Artifacts looted in illegal excavations by Turkish-backed factions

Turkish-backed armed groups have been conducting unauthorized archaeological excavations in and around the Turkish-occupied city of Afrin in Northern Syria, TASS reported, citing a senior Russion official.

Oleg Yegorov, the deputy chair of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said on Sunday that the illegally excavated artifacts are later transported by the groups to Turkey to be sold on the black market.

"Work is carried out with the use of heavy machinery and explosives, which incurs serious damage to Syrian cultural heritage sites," Yegorov added.

The Kurdish-majority city of Afrin was occupied by Turkish forces and their proxies in 2018 in a military campaign, dubbed "Operation Olive Branch" by Turkish authorities, after two months of fighting.

Turkish-backed factions operating under a "Syrian National Army" have been systematically seizing lands and properties of Afrin's residents, taking over olive orchards and olive oil production facilities, cutting down hundreds of thousand of trees for timber trade in the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported in late December 2021 illegal excavations carried out in the Hill of Tal Khela, a site registered with the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.

Most of the hill, located about 3 km from Afrin's center, was carved out by heavy machinery, SOHR said.

The looted sites in Afrin include Ain Dara that houses an Iron Age Syro-Hittite temple. A lion figure, made of basalt, was among the artifacts stolen form the site.

SOHR also reported that another excavation with heavy machinery in Kali Khariba area in Raju district that started in November 2021 was carried out under the monitoring of Turkish forces.

The Afrin region includes 56 archaeological sites registered with Syrian government departments, in addition to more than 40 sites documented by the Antiquities Directorate of the Autonomous Administration of Afrin between 2014 and 2018.