A new Turkish sabotage affects an ancient hill in Afrin countryside

Sources reported that the Turkish army and its armed factions committed a new crime against archaeological sites in the countryside of Aleppo, by sabotaging and bulldozing one of the ancient hills in the countryside of Afrin.

The sources indicated that the Turkish army deliberately destroyed the archaeological hill located in the town of Ma’batli, northwest of Afrin, as the hill was subjected to excavation via bulldozers searching for archaeological finds.

The sources emphasized that “the archaeological site suffered great damage, as some archaeological layers were destroyed,” noting that “the Turkish vehicles have also uprooted dozens of old olive trees inside the agricultural lands in the area.”

Throughout the years of the war in Syria, Turkey has deliberately stolen the country’s antiquities in a heinous way, without any regard for the importance of the Syrian civilization and its heritage, using vehicles and equipment that cause great damage to the regions and artifacts, noting that the smuggling and sale of these antiquities takes place exclusively by Turkish intelligence and none of its affiliated factions participate in these thefts.