Syria’s Turkmen community in the Latakia province is demanding the return of over 4,500 acres of land seized by force since 1974 by the ousted family of Bashar Assad to build palaces.
The lands in the Silayip Turkman and Burj Islam villages of the Bayirbucak region were once used by villagers to cultivate olives, lemons and oranges.
Since 1974, the Assad family has eyed these lands to construct palaces. Farmers who refused to sell their fields were subjected to threats, violence, pressure and even torture.
Local villagers faced false accusations, imprisonment and threats of having roads built through their fields. Ultimately, they were forced to sell their lands for prices far below their value.
The Assad regime destroyed the olive trees in these fields and gradually built four palaces surrounded by barbed wire.
Villagers were only allowed to enter their olive groves once a year under military supervision.
Although the Baath regime has been overthrown, the villagers continue to recount the pressure, threats and torture they endured in the past, sharing their stories with Anadolu Agency (AA).
Seventy-year-old Vahid Said Shalha, who once worked on 50 acres of land with his family, said he was falsely accused of "collaborating with a foreign country," leading to his imprisonment and the seizure of his property.
"I made a living through fishing," said Shalha.
"One day, regime forces came and accused me of meeting Turkish commanders and leaking information," he said, adding: "They took me to Sednaya Prison despite my protests. I was tortured and left without clothes for a month."
Shalha spent three years in prison before returning to his village.
"We had a 50-acre vineyard that my cousins, siblings and I inherited from our grandfather. When they asked if I would sell it, I refused," he stated.
"They told me to leave, and I was summoned repeatedly for over five years. Eventually, they brought in excavators and built a road across the land to connect two palaces," he recalled, adding: "Even then, I refused to sell."
He said a man named Mohammed Hatip, assigned by the Assad regime, threatened him, saying: "You've been to Sednaya before. Do you think you'll survive another visit?'"
Fearing for his life, Shalha agreed under duress. "I told my family they threatened to send me back to Sednaya. They said if I didn't sell, I wouldn't survive."
He said his land was taken for far less than its value.
"They offered 100,000 Syrian pounds ($7.80) per acre when it was worth 1 million. When I objected, they brought guns and forced me out of court," he said.
He noted: "Since a palace was built on Mount Turkmen in 1974, we've been banned from entering our fields."
"Soldiers would watch us even while we harvested olives, and we had to surrender our IDs to get access to our own property."
Recalling the suffering he endured in prison, Shalha said: "I am a nationalist. I have a tattoo of the Turkish crescent and star on my arm and endured beatings because of it."
"I've had this tattoo since 1968, and it gives me strength daily," he said.
Demanding justice, he concluded: "We want a new government to pay the true value of our land. I will accept even if they pay half, but do so fairly."
Bayirbucak resident Hasan Faris also shared the threats his family faced over their olive groves.
"One day, they said they'd demolish our home. We told them to do whatever they wanted, but we wouldn't sell," he said.
"They threatened to kill us, saying, 'We'll destroy you with excavators.' We replied, 'Even if these lands become our graves, we won't sell,'" he mentioned.
Faris, who comes from a family of 11 siblings, said their survival depended on the land. "They also threatened my father, but he resisted."
Eventually, the Assad regime demolished their olive trees and confiscated their land.
"One morning, we woke up to find excavators had destroyed every tree. When we tried to approach, they threatened to bury us there," he stated.
He said his family land lacks formal title deeds, but the community knows it belongs to them.
"Even if offered millions, we wouldn't sell. These lands were stolen from us by force," he noted, adding: "We speak not only for ourselves but for all Bayirbucak Turkmens. Everyone wants justice, and their lands returned."
Ibrahim Bilal from Silayip Turkman village said his family owns three acres of titled land.
"Even walking near the land is forbidden. We can only see it from a distance but cannot approach."
To enter their own fields, villagers must surrender their identities and be watched by soldiers.
"If we harvest olives, they come, saying: 'Hurry up and leave,'" he said.
About the Assad family's palaces in the area, he said: "There's one for Bushra Assad, another for ousted Assad, and two more for Basil and Munzir Assad. Munzir Assad took his palace through torture and threats."
Bilal concluded: "We demand our rights. Let justice be served, and our lands returned."
Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending his family's decades-long rule.
Since then, many countries worldwide, including Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, launched relief and aid campaigns for the Syrian people.
