Farmers from Afrin (Efrîn) say their olive groves have been plundered by armed groups backed by the Turkish state. Berav resident Îbrahîm Menan said, “Since I left my home, I have not received a single drop of olive oil,” while Bilal Bilal from the village of Arab reported that all of their produce was seized after the occupation, and that returning relatives were forced to hand over 50 percent of their harvest to a body calling itself the “Economy Committee.”
Afrin’s olive oil, known worldwide as “liquid gold”, is now sold across Europe, the United States and the Middle East under the label “Made in Türkiye.” Yet the people of Afrin, the true owners of these groves, have been unable to access their land or benefit from even a drop of its produce since 2018. The orchards, systematically confiscated by the Turkish state and the armed mercenary groups operating under it, have been turned into one of Turkey’s major olive oil export sources.
Afrin is one of the best-known olive-producing regions in Northern and Eastern Syria, as well as across the rest of the country. The region is home to at least 18 million olive trees, some more than a century old, of which around 14 million are highly productive. Afrin olives are also the raw material for the world-renowned “Aleppo Soap,” a 2,000-year-old tradition. For generations, olive oil has been regarded by the people of the region as their own form of “liquid gold.”
Before the occupation, Afrin hosted 300 olive-pressing facilities and seven soap factories. Each year, between 200,000 and 250,000 tons of olives were harvested, producing 35,000 to 50,000 tons of olive oil. For people living in Afrin Canton and its surrounding countryside, olives made up roughly 70 percent of annual household income.
The Chamber of Agriculture, operating under the Democratic Autonomous Administration, coordinated the harvest season each October. Farmers could take their olives to the pressing facilities without fear; theft was unheard of, and the economy functioned on shared labour and collective trust.
Everything changed after the Turkish state launched its occupation on 20 January 2018. More than 300,000 civilians were displaced, and their homes were handed over to families of armed groups brought from different parts of Syria and even from third countries. Of Afrin’s 300 olive-pressing facilities, 140 were looted and the rest fell under the control of these groups. As farmers lost any possibility of working safely, killings, kidnappings, ransom demands and systematic theft became widespread. Large numbers of olive trees were cut down, burned or seized by force.
Local sources and human rights organisations have documented the destruction of over 2.1 million olive trees since the occupation began, with much of the wood sold to Turkey.
Farmers can no longer enter their own land. Those who manage to reach their orchards are forced to pay fees ranging from 4 to 15 dollars per tree. Many villagers are compelled to harvest their own olives for armed groups who declare, “These trees belong to us now.”
Reports by the Human Rights Organization – Afrin-Syria indicate that farmers, landowners and owners of olive-pressing machines are subjected to heavy taxes imposed on their primary sources of income. Citizens say these so-called “taxes” are in fact extortion carried out mainly by armed groups operating under the authority of the Turkish state. These include the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (also known as El-Amshat), the Al-Hamza Division, the Sultan Murad Division, the Muntasir Billah Brigade, the Al-Mu’tasim Division and Faylaq al-Sham, among many others.
Farmers are forced into a struggle for survival between harvest seasons. Like every year, the arrival of the harvest period has triggered another round of organised looting. Many farmers face harassment aimed at forcing them to pay extortion fees. Those who resist are frequently threatened with violence, abduction, murder, confiscation of property or the destruction of their olive trees.
Out of fear of having their harvest seized, some residents have begun to pick their olives before they are ripe. As a result, where six tins of oil should be produced, they end up with only two.
Farmers are often forced to hand over their olives to specific factories under the supervision of armed groups. Sales are restricted to approved local merchants who are usually linked to these groups, and these merchants set prices far below market value. For example, a 16–17 kilo tin of olive oil sells for under 100 dollars in Afrin, while the same product can reach more than 120 dollars in Idlib.
The products are then transported into Turkey and channelled to international markets. While Afrin’s olive oil reaches dining tables around the world under the “Made in Türkiye” label, the real owners of the trees have not been able to touch their orchards, or a single drop of their oil, for the past seven years.
Because of war, displacement and systematic plunder, annual production, which was around 250 tons before 2018, has reportedly fallen to nearly 50 tons. The decline is further exacerbated by the lack of proper care, as extortion and insecurity prevent farmers from tending to their trees.
Co-chair of the Human Rights Organization – Afrin, Ibrahim Shexo, noted that annual olive production, which used to be at least 250 tons, has fallen to around 50 tons this year due to occupation, confiscation and widespread theft. He stated that more than one million olive trees have been cut down and reported that the so-called Economy Committee in Afrin demands ownership documents from residents while simultaneously seizing their produce.
Shexo said numerous videos have surfaced showing large groups of non-Afrin residents stealing olives from the fields. According to him, complaints filed by victims lead nowhere; these bodies provide no services and operate only in Afrin, with no equivalent structures in Azaz, Jarablus or al-Bab.
According to Ibrahim Shexo, the Turkish state sells the olives harvested from the trees cut down by its armed groups to various parts of Syria and to European countries through local merchants in the region.
Stolen olive oil from Afrin sold in Europe as “Made in Turkey”
Olive oil looted from Afrin is first transported into Turkey, where it is packaged and exported as “Made in Türkiye” with the approval of the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE).
Several brands that openly market their products as “Afrin” in Europe and North America include:
* Zêr Afrin – distributed from Magdeburg, Germany
* Cibal Afrin / Jibal Afrin – sold in Germany, Canada and across Europe with the label “Olive oil from the mountains of Afrin”; the product carries a TSE stamp and is marketed under the label “Mir Paketleme ITH. IHR. VE TIC. LTD. STI.”
* Yaman – sold in France with the description “Syria – Afrin Aleppo”
* Jobri Food – distributed through networks in Viborg (Denmark) and Germany, promoted with the slogan “Renowned Afrin products”
* Mir Paketleme – present in the Canadian market with TSE approval
I don’t even know if my trees are still standing
The testimonies of displaced residents capture the scale of the catastrophe.
Îbrahîm Menan from the village of Berav still recounts the forced displacement he experienced in March 2018 with the same pain: “That year the weather was bitterly cold and rainy. Half of the population walked for three days. The planes were bombing; they wouldn’t let us pass. Elderly people and children died from hunger and cold; we couldn’t even dig graves. We walked for three days without food or water. We escaped with only the clothes on our backs, we brought nothing else.
I was a well-off man. I had 400–500 olive trees. They produced a good harvest every two years, and we would pick around a hundred sacks of olives, enough to provide for us for two years. We worked for ourselves and for our community.
We have been displaced for seven or eight years now. They are plundering our property and taking everything to Turkey. Since the day I left my home, I have not received a single drop of olive oil. I don’t even know if my trees are still standing.”
Armed groups take extortion money under the name of taxes
Bilal Bilal from the village of Arab in Mabeta recounts his experience: “As a family, we had 400–500 olive trees and around 40 walnut trees. We used to produce about 70 tins of olive oil every year. We never had to work in anyone else’s fields; during harvest season we would pick our olives and take them to the pressing facilities.
During the period of the Autonomous Administration, there were no compulsory taxes in Afrin. Each family contributed according to its own means; our own harvest was enough for us.
After the occupation, we have not seen even a gram of our olives. The armed groups seized everything. Some of our relatives returned to Afrin, and the groups calling themselves the ‘Economy Committee’ are taking fifty percent of their harvest as so-called taxes, in reality, extortion. And whatever remains is not even enough to cover their costs.”