We have read the news received from the occupied Afrin region about the martyrdom of the lawyer and jurist “Luqman Hameed Hanan” at the hands of Turkish intelligence and factions of the so-called “The Syrian National Army” as it was documented by human rights committees and testimonies of people from the occupied Afrin region.
The lawyer and jurist “Luqman Hameed Hanan” was 45 years old and from the village of “Hajj Qasmo” of the district of Mabata (Mabatli) in the countryside of Afrin, north of the city of Aleppo, he had been arrested since December 20th from his house and was handed over to his family this morning as a lifeless body with traces of brutal torture.
This heinous crime, which was committed by factions and gangs of mercenaries affiliated with the so-called “The Syrian National Army” that works with the complicity of the official Turkish intelligence services, is a continuation of repression and bloodshed of the original Kurdish people of the region since the occupation of the Afrin region in the spring of 2018.
The daily violations including killing, torture, kidnapping, extortion and theft that happen in the occupied Afrin region and the rest of the Syrian regions occupied by Turkey amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing against the people of the region.
We as members of the Syrian Democratic Council express our full condemnation of the recent murder, all murders and violations, and hold the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries including the militias of the so-called “The Syrian National Army” fully responsible for the crimes and violations committed against the peoples of the region, especially the Kurdish people in Afrin, and we demand that the circumstances of the crime must be revealed by an impartial international investigation investigating the crimes committed in Afrin and other occupied areas in northern Syria.
The continuation of the Turkish occupation of the areas of northern Syria means the continuation of violence and terrorism, more crimes and violations, and turning these areas into a base for Takfiri thought and a safe haven for terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda organization and the remnants and cells of the terrorist organization (ISIS).
Therefore, we call on international organizations, bodies and human rights committees to carry out their humanitarian and moral duty and intervene against daily violations, and we also call on the international community to end the Turkish occupation in the Afrin region and all occupied Syrian areas, and we emphasize the need to ensure the safe return of all residents to their areas of origin and compensate affected people.
Glory and immortality for all martyrs
Shame and defeat on the Turkish occupier and its mercenaries
On December 22nd, 2022
The Syrian Democratic Council