Turkey is disturbing the peace of Duhok

21-05-2021 01:26
The remains of the Turkish bombardments in the areas of Duhok province

PEREGRAF– Amar Aziz

The peace that Turkey advocates are exactly the opposite of what Ramazan Yahya recounts. Ever since the Gendarmerie has moved to their area, there is no security nor stability. He was compelled to abandon his ancestral land, which comprised an orchard ready to harvest.

Turkish Gendarmerie’s joint air and ground operations have been ongoing for years in Duhok and Badinan, which the Ankara government justifies as anti-Guerrilla operations targeting the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) in order to establish peace and security.

"The shelling by Turkish warplanes on PKK has increased and our lives were in danger. So we left our village and now live in the center of Duhok," Ramazan Yahya, a resident of Banstana village in Amedi district, told PEREGRAF.

Ramazan’s village is one of the areas found on the battleground for the Turkish operations, under the pretext that the PKK is in the territory of the Kurdistan Region.

"People don't like to leave their village. We have lived there for a lifetime. We have adopted its culture and invested in livestock. I left my house, the vineyard, the grapes, the pickles and apples, which had an income of about three million dinars a year. Now we can't even go back to bring our produce. We just go to there for a while and come back to Duhok in the evening," said Ramazan.

He calls for a solution to this unstable situation and requests that at least they receive a compensation for their losses.

Turkey's last air and ground operation intended at the Duhok border, which began on April 23, 2021 in the region's land, is ongoing such that fighting with PKK has taken place in several places, without any intervention on the part of the regional government.

"The Turkish bombardment of the district has increased, from 23rd to 28th of April. They have entered nine kilometers into the Kurdistan region," Sarbast Sabri, Town Chief of the Kani Masi district, told PEREGRAF.

The Turkish state, formally announced the resumption of the operation within Iraq's land through the President and the Defense Minister. The only formal protest by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry occurred after the Turkish Defense Minister visited the country's military base on Iraqi soil without Baghdad's knowledge.

"Turkey intends to lay hold of Zanari Kesta because there are more than 50 villages in the border districts of Kani Masi, Bamarni and Batifa located in Zanari Kesta, which is a strategic place," according to Town Chief of Kani Masi district.

In addition to ground attacks, Turkey has bombarded the villages of Kani Masi in Amedi and Avashin districts more than 50 times. The setting up of barracks and headquarters around the Zanari area has led to the evacuation of a large number of people from the area.

"The people of the area live in a very unstable and bad condition. Each and every minute, they live in fear of Turkish warplanes bombing the area. Out of the 76 villages of the Kani Masi district, 12 villages have been completely evacuated. If the situation carries on the way it has been going on, dozens of other villages will also be evacuated," said Sarbast Sabri.

Last year, another Turkish operation in the area resulted in civilians and villagers as main victims.

The chief of Kani Masi district said that in the past three years, more than 260, 000 acres of farmland and orchards have been burnt down by shelling and fighting. All statistics have been sent to Duhok Province, but no cases have been compensated since 1991. In a single district, 12 civilians were killed and 310 injured during clashes between Turkey and PKK.

"We ask that both the regional and federal governments come up with a solution to this problem. People have been living in instability for more than 30 years. For how long will this situation persist?" Sabri asked.

According to a report by the CPT, more than 99 people have been killed since 2015 due to Turkish operations and bombings on Kurdish land; 15 of them in the first 6 months of 2020.  Hundreds of villages have been evacuated due to the dangers posed on the security of the lives and the livelihood of thousands of families.

"My two sons, aged 30 and 35, were martyred in Amedi, and two years after, the government gave us 171 dollars as monthly compensation for each of them," said Mustafa Muhammad Tahir, the father of two Turkish bombing martyrs.

Mustafa’s two sons, along with their cousin, were killed in a Turkish rocket attack on September 20, 2017, near the Blue River in Amedi.

"They have not yet been considered as martyrs and nothing has been done except the compensation," he told PEREGRAF. He has visited several institutions with a futile attempt at changing their recognition from victims to martyrs and have their monthly salaries. 

Despite the fact that innocent citizens are victimised, Turkey insists on pursuing its operations and the PKK says they will continue while calling it a war of defense for all Kurdish.

"Zakho has greatly suffered, just like the other areas, due to the PKK and Turkish wars," said Dler Abdulstar, the Mayor of Zakho district. "More than 43 villages have been evacuated in Zakho so far, and 32 civilians have been killed and 10 injured."

Material damages amount to more than 2 millions and 750 thousand dollars in 58 villages in Batifa district of Zakho.

Abdul-Sattar said the Compensation Committee is unable to attend destroyed areas because of bombings; so they rely on the photos and videos that people send, but this cannot be solely used as a precise and accurate source of evidence.

"Turkiye has set up 14 military bases in the mountains of Zakho border, especially in Derca and Batifa districts, and has entered more than 10 kilometers deep into Zakho land," said the Mayor of Zakho.

After the Civil War between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Turkey set up its base in the region in the 1990s. According to a report by the CPT, it has set up 37 military and intelligence bases, most of them deeply stationed more than 35 kilometers into the region's land, and are part of the center of villages and towns in Duhok, Zakho and Soran.

"Since 1991, more than 257 villages in the province have been evacuated due to the presence of the PKK headquarters and the continuing Turkish bombing, with 212 villages in Amadiya and more than 35 in Zakho," Rizgar Sadiqi, a member of the Duhok provincial council told PEREGRAF.

"In the past 4 years, 34 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured. While some of them have been seriously injured, others have suffered material damages of more than 4 milliards and 794 million dollars along with the destruction of more than 6,000 acres of farmland."

The provincial council has received all the statistics and formed three committees for Amedi, Akre and Zakho. It has supplied the information to the Duhok province and the regional government. However, people have not yet been compensated despite their efforts in writing letters with detailed information about all damages incurred, and request to be compensated by representatives and consulates of all countries.

The Kurdistan Parliament which had previously decided to expel the Turkish headquarters and yet did not implement the decision, has not voiced their judgment for the operations occurring this time.

"The parliament's leadership recently set up a committee for the bombardment damages and go to Akre, Zakho and Amedi squares," Reving Hruri, a member of Kurdistan's Parliament told PEREGRAF. "We have prepared a detailed report and handed it over to the Parliament President, but they have not provided us with an answer yet."