Al-Amshat faction: Investments reveal obscene wealth that has no legitimate source… The residents of Sheikh Hadid in Afrin are “awe and fear” under the sway of Abu Amsha and the Turkish occupation

Prepared by: Yamin Al-Khaled
Editing: Alaa’ Al-Rubaiey

The faction of Sultan Suleiman Shah, affiliated with the Syrian National Army and backed by Turkey, poses a threat to the lives of civilians in Afrin, in the light of the fact that the faction continues to violate the rights of the indigenous people in the area, interspersed with individual and collective violations, displacement operations against the people, the seizure of civilian property and the settlement of settlers from other governorates on their properties, except for the seizure of large areas of agricultural land and the construction of investment projects, which constitute harassment against civilians, in particular the confiscation of freedoms and restrictions on women.

Since 2018, after Turkey’s occupation of the region, the people of Afrin have been living in difficult conditions, described by international institutions and organizations as an occupation, destruction of infrastructure, and demographic change in the region.

The faction of Sultan Suleiman Shah, led by “Mohammed Al-Jassim,” nicknamed Abu Amsha, the military leader, who has many indications about how he reached the faction’s military leadership and fame, and the support provided by Turkey to him, for the violations that he and his faction are carrying out against civilians, in Afrin in general and Sheikh district. \ Sheikh Hadid in the countryside of Afrin.

Investments and money without a source
Local sources told ASO News Network that the period between the beginning of this year 2021 and the date of June 1, 2021, the Suleiman Shah faction established 35 investment projects in Afrin, represented by swimming pools, restaurants, cafes, playgrounds, “supermarkets” and others.

The cost of one project, according to private sources, ranges from 15 to 50 thousand US dollars, and it is supervised by “Mohammed Al-Jassem” nicknamed Abu Amsha and his brother “Saif Amsha.” The projects are built within lands and buildings that were seized and confiscated from the indigenous people, after their displacement from the Shiah district of Afrin countryside .

The leader of the Suleiman Shah faction hides his ownership of the investments, through his brother and leaders in the faction, in addition to handing over the projects to civilian investors to supervise them.

Royalties
The sources of funding the Suleiman Shah faction are multiple and unspecified, and many of them are hidden because they operate illegally. What is exposed is the imposition of royalties, ranging from 200 to 400 US dollars, on the residents of Shiah district, to allow them to stay in their homes, and royalties and fines are imposed on farmers. Up to $300 per family.

In addition, the faction imposes the settlement of displaced people from other governorates, in the homes of the indigenous people of Afrin under threat, and this represents a form of demographic change that Turkey seeks to create in the region, in addition to the departure of dozens of families from the area as a result of the harassment that is occurring against them.

Imposing ideology in Afrin
The practice of violations is not limited to the restriction of living conditions in Afrin only. Private sources confirm to the ASO News Network that Suleiman Shah Division loyal to the Turkish occupation imposes a religious ideology, by restricting personal freedoms, against the population remaining in Afrin, so the faction imposes the wearing of the veil on Kurdish girls. And obligating them to do so, as every girl who is not veiled is subjected to punishment, which may amount to arrest and torture, and clothing stores are always checked and their owners are warned not to sell the so-called “illegal” clothing to Kurdish women and girls, and there is no acceptable clothing attached to the veil.

“Bilal” (a pseudonym for an activist residing in the northern countryside of Aleppo), 30 years old, said in his interview with ASO News Network that the Suleiman Shah faction, since the beginning of the occupation of Afrin, has deliberately harassed women in it, especially Kurdish women from the indigenous population, thus preventing mixing between Indigenous women from and settlers in Afrin, where women in Afrin are required to wear the “Islamic” legitimate dress since the age of 14.

It is known about Afrin that it is an area in which coexistence, openness and freedoms, and its society accept progressive ideas, and the people of Afrin have not experienced any imposition of personal freedoms before, and that came only with the occupation of Afrin by the Syrian National Army.

Bilal talks about documented cases of violations against women and girls who violate religious dress decisions, so girls and women were arrested on the pretext of “grooming” and violating public morals, and this is categorized as one of a series of harassments faced by those who remain in the region.

Women in Afrin live with racial discrimination by armed factions and settlers, so they are treated in a special way on the basis of nationalism and ethnicity, for example, it is possible to arrest any individual on charges of dealing with the Kurdish armed group!

Demographic change and the blurring of identities
In his interview with ASO News Network, Bilal mentioned that Al-Amshat faction and the Syrian National Army factions are working to obliterate the Kurdish identity in Afrin, Arabizing the region and adding the Turkish character, in addition to randomly manipulating the demographic reality, so many Turkish-backed advocacy organizations are active, which is carried out with humanitarian cover and through Building mosques and centers for memorizing the Qur’an, imposing a religious ideology, and also passing the teaching of Arabic and Turkish.

Turkey-backed groups, with the support of the Syrian National Army, built 4 mosques, including the Great Mosque called “Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque,” a center for teaching the Turkish language, and built a series of kindergartens for children called “Baraem al-Jannah” that was built between the beginning of March 2021 and May \ May 2021, with the declared support of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division and Islamic advocacy organizations and with the support of the Endowment Directorate, which operates under the cover of the Turkish occupation in Shiah district

In a question for the ASO News Network, about the fact that the Suleiman Shah faction is emptying the area, the majority agreed that what the Suleiman Shah faction is doing is emptying the area, through a restriction that obliges the Kurdish indigenous people to leave their land.

The factions’ prisons are full of Kurdish civilians
Sources from inside Afrin said that the prisons of the factions are filled with indigenous people, including the prisons of Shiah district, where the sources describe them as brutal and repressive policies. For example, whoever refuses to hand over his property and submit to the factions will be arrested, as hundreds of detainees are in prisons on the simplest charges of belonging to Kurdish armed groups .

A private source from within Shiah district, quoting factions of the Syrian National Army, the latter confirmed that Mohammed Al-Jassem “Abu Amsha,” the faction leader, personally supervises the follow-up of the cases of Kurdish prisoners, supervises the torture that is being carried out against them, and leads the intimidation approach that harasses civilians, and gives Its elements are the power of accountability and judgment with iron and fire power, and it gives a distinctive value to the military at the expense of the civilian.

And the “source”, who preferred not to reveal his name for fear of being prosecuted, added that any element or officer who violates Abu Amsha’s orders is directly beaten and tortured, and no one in his area dares to violate him, and the last thing he did was steal the salaries of about 1,000 personnel Participated in the fighting in Azerbaijan, the total amount is estimated at 140,000 US dollars

It is worth noting that the “Sultan Suleiman Shah Division” faction is affiliated with the “National Army” loyal to the Turkish occupation, and is led by the so-called “Mohammed Al-Jassem” (Abu Amsha), who is from the village of Al-Khousa in the northern Hama countryside. Before the beginning of the events in Syria, he worked as an agricultural bulldozer driver. He formed the Line of Fire Brigade, then the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division, and the faction is currently controlling the entire Shiah district.

Abu Amsha is considered the fierce hand of Turkey in the region, as he is building a kingdom on the tragedy, circumstances and skulls of the people.