Turkey Destroys 12,000 Olive Trees in Afrin, Syria

50,000 tons of olive oil have been looted by Turkish-backed militias

Over 12,000 olive trees have been destroyed in Afrin, Syria and over 50,000 tons of olive oil seized by armed Turkish militia. Olive oil production facilities were also looted and olive presses were dismantled and stolen.

According to Afrin economist Celeng Omer, the 2018 olive harvest should have brought in $150 million, but Afrin olive growers lost $100 million to marauding militias sanctioned by the Turkish government. This figure does not include damage to facilities and theft of equipment.

In addition to suffering theft and destruction from Syrian militia allied to Turkey, farmers are now being forced to turn over 15–30% of their produce as an “agricultural tax”.

Afrin is a town and agricultural region in northwest Syria, near the border of Turkey. Its economy is based almost entirely on the production of olives and related products such as oil and soap. The town was originally developed by the French under the French mandate of Syria, but has fallen victim to struggles between Turkish government forces and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a mainly-Kurdish militia backed by the US.