Afrin’s olives on Switzerland’s agenda

Swiss MP Bernhard Guhl took the Turkish state looting Afrin’s olives to be sold to Spain to the Swiss parliament’s agenda. Guhl stressed that the Turkish state continues to violate international law in front of the whole world to see.

Protests continue against the Turkish state and their allied gangs invading Afrin and pillaging the olive groves of the people to make huge profits.

The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP) National Parliament MP Bernhard Guhl submitted a motion to both the national parliament and the Switzerland Federal Council on the matter.


MP Guhl submitted a motion titled “Where will the money from the olives stolen from Afrin go?” which pointed out, “In Turkish occupied Afrin, the olive groves are being pillaged by both Turkish forces and the militias they support. The olives they steal have been sold to Spain, and the sale will continue.”

Guhl posed the following questions in his motion to the Federal Council and the National Parliament:

- How would the olive theft and pillaging in Afrin be considered in terms of international law?

- Has the Federal Council taken action against this theft?

- What is the Federal Council doing to make sure the tens of millions of Euros in revenue generated from these stolen olives go to the rightful owners?


The Federal Council orally responded to MP Guhl’s motion and said Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry is following the matter closely.


MP Bernhard Guhl submitted another motion to the National Parliament following this response and, mentioning the Federal Council’s claim that the matter was being followed closely, said the Federal Council has a duty to respond to the following questions:

- How many tonnes of olives were harvested in Afrin in 2018?

- Where were these olives taken after the harvest and where were they processed?

- Which countries were these olives or their products exported to?

- How much revenue have the olives generated and who has benefited from this revenue?

- According to news articles, the Turkish invasion forces cut down many olive trees in Afrin. How many trees have been cut down and does this practice continue still?

- Turkey invaded Afrin on January 20, 2018 and is still occupying the city. Why isn’t Switzerland pushing Turkey to end this occupation?

- Turkey is creating an infrastructure in Afrin to annex the city. What is Switzerland doing to stop the annexation of Afrin into Turkish territory?

- Erdogan has said he is preparing for a new attack against Syrian Kurds. Why isn’t Switzerland warning Erdogan against this in a serious manner?


In the past, Swiss Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP) National Parliament MP Bernhard Guhl has submitted dozens of motions to the Swiss parliament to draw attention to Turkish state attacks against Kurds. At a time when MPs in the Swiss parliament with Kurdish backgrounds and MPs from leftist parties that Kurds have supported in elections stay silent, MP Guhl stands out with his insistence on taking attacks against Kurds to Switzerland’s public agenda.