Turkey is conquering northern Syria economically

Turkey entered the Syrian war line with their eyes on northern Syria, so their intervention focused from day one.

The goal is direct deduction and annexation, or indirect control over it and benefiting from its benefits by following a policy of Turkey’s Erdogan.

At the beginning of the war, Erdogan tried to wear the mantle of the Ottoman reborn at the gates of Aleppo and pledged to restore it as a state belonging to the Sultanate, because of an old dream that the Turks thought that the war was an opportunity to achieve it.

Prior to its liberation, Aleppo was subjected to all kinds of injustice and brutality by the Turkish control and its arms in the north before the Syrian government regain control.

Later, Turkey go for several military operations in northern Syria, such as the “Euphrates Shield and the Olive Branch,” which led to Turkish and their Syrian opposition fighters, control parts of northern Syria, under the pretexts and allegations of fighting terrorism.

Turkey began to act in the north, just as it regained the time of the “Sublime Door”, taking advantage of the fronts of Syria, “opposition governments” that have no power but to implement the orders of the Turkish presence.

In brazen steps and contrary to international laws, Turkey began to exist as a controller in the north, either directly through the presence of Turkish elements or indirectly through imposing Turkish laws and regulations that facilitate the process of looting and stealing the goods of the north.

The Turkish control, according to Syrian opposition media in the north of Syria, established an integrated economic system affiliated with it that includes all commercial, banking and agricultural aspects, which it applied through its fronts by “opposition governments” and imposed it on the Syrians there as the only solution to secure ways of life.

According to these means, the north of Syria has been subject to Turkish laws and regulations that govern the commercial process between the occupation and its interfaces through agreements, fees and documents that control import and export and ultimately facilitate the theft of Syrian products without realizing any real benefit for the people in those areas.

The Syrian opposition chambers of commerce in the north have organized a mechanism for obtaining a “commercial permit” or a “merchant card,” which the holder is allowed, after the approval of the occupation authorities, to do business between northern Syria and Turkey.

The Syrian merchant in the north was allowed to import goods from Turkey except for specific items of a special nature or materials that Turkey prohibits from exporting for fear of its economic security, and it is forbidden to bring any material from the north to Turkey unless it is cheaper in the north than in Turkey.

The laws stipulated for obtaining a “commercial permit” the existence of licenses, a commercial registry, and membership in the Syrian opposition Chamber of Commerce, and accordingly, a request is submitted to the Turkish occupation authorities to obtain permission for either a period of 6 months for a fee of one thousand dollars or a year for a fee of two thousand dollars.

The export from the north of Syria to the Turkish market included agricultural crops such as olive oil, wheat, barley, cotton, corn and potatoes, which are materials that enter Turkey without fees due to the Turkish market’s need for them being cheaper in the north, and for that, the Turkish authorities reopened the “Bab al Salamah, Jarablus and al Rai” border crossings.

Turkey bought the crops from farmers in the north through the Turkish Agricultural Crops Office, which is responsible for paying the crops’ money to them.

The Syrian opposition councils in the north also grant farmers a certificate of origin for the crops, a document on the quantity, and a bank account card from the Turkish “PTT” to enable them to receive the price of their crops.

In order to serve this system imposed on the north, Turkey at the end of 2017 opened several branches of the Turkish Postal and Shipping Corporation “PTT” throughout the occupied north of Syria and provided the areas of Aleppo, Tal Abyad and Ras al Ain with ATM machines.

Apart from requiring dealing with “PTT” to receive the price of agricultural crops, Turkey forced local and foreign organizations operating in the countryside of Aleppo to transfer funds to the north through it.

The Turkish occupation authorities also forced the “opposition” councils in the north to deal with several Turkish companies working in the field of providing services, such as AK ENERGY, which supplies the region with electricity.

Under the pretext of helping the Syrians in the north solve the problem of high prices, the Turkish authorities in mid-2020 pumped the Turkish currency into circulation in the north of Syria and forced the “Syrian opposition governments” to deal with it.

The “Salvation Government” in the Idlib countryside adopted the Turkish lira as the only fixed currency, while the “Interim Government of the Opposition” in the countryside of Aleppo included it, in addition to the circulation of the US dollar and the Syrian pound.

The spread of the Turkish lira in the north, according to opposition media, contributed to reducing its offer in the Turkish market, and this supports its value and facilitates the circulation of the Turkish currency in the north from the process of moving Turkish products to it.

It is noteworthy that the people in the north of Syria suffer from a shortage of basic materials, high prices, and the absence of a decent life, in addition to their daily suffering with the Turkish and their Syrian oppositions militias, while on the other side, the Turkey is stealing the resources in Northern Syrian and plundering its goods.