Turkiye releases four long-detained Syrian Kurds
Shafaq News- Ankara/ Damascus
Turkiye has released four Kurdish men from Afrin, in northern Syria, after nearly eight years in detention, while other residents of their village and nearby areas remain in Turkish prisons, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday.
The arrests took place in August 2018, when Turkish civilian police, accompanied by intelligence officers, detained 13 young men from Amra Ushaghi and another man from a nearby village over alleged ties to the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
#المرصد_السوري بعد 8 سنوات من الاعــتــقــال.. تركيا تفرج عن 4 مواطنين كرد من ريف #عفرين وتُبقي آخرين في سجونها https://t.co/nFaj3Ty1bm
— المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان (@syriahr) October 10, 2026
According to the Observatory, the detainees were beaten and tortured while held at a school in their village before being transferred to a school in a neighboring village. Their families were reportedly asked to pay large sums of money before the men were moved to Samsun Prison in Turkiye.
On Dec. 12, 2019, a court in the Turkish province of Hatay sentenced 11 of the detainees to varying prison terms, including life imprisonment.
The Observatory called on Turkish authorities to disclose the fate of all Kurdish detainees, investigate reports of torture and ill-treatment, review the sentences in the case, and release those held arbitrarily. It also urged authorities to hold those responsible for any violations accountable.
