Environmental specialist: Turkey deliberately destroys and burns Kurdistan's forests

Kurdistan 09:24 PM - 2021-05-29

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The bombing of Turkish planes and artillery caused great losses to the environment of the Kurdistan Region, while a specialist in environmental affairs called on the international community to intervene.

 

The latest Turkish bombardment on Duhok areas on Saturday, has burned large areas of farms and forests, and the people of those areas have evacuated their villages.

 

Journalist and researcher in environmental affairs Khaled Suleiman told PUKmedia that the Turkish army has deliberately burned farms and forests in the Kurdistan Region, as well as orchards and forests in the Kurdish city of Afrin in western Kurdistan (northern Syria) since its occupation in 2018, explaining that the chauvinistic mentality does not target Kurds only, but rather works to burn the environment Kurdistan and cut trees and then sell them.

 

He added: Turkey knows very well that the Kurdish man is tied to his land and environment, so he intends to strike forests and farms with the aim of coercing him into his region within as part of its old colonial policy, as implemented in the Republic of Haiti, which gained independence in the 18th century in exchange for selling its trees to France, noting that green spaces and forests in the Republic of Haiti were 80% but then it reduced to become only 2%.

 

He stressed the need to confront Turkey's wrong and very dangerous policies against the Kurds and Kurdistan, by adopting all means of civil struggle and moving in the forums of the international community so that Kurdistan does not become without trees and forests.

 

The Turkish army began military operations inside the Kurdistan Region more than 35 days ago, and the repeated Turkish bombardment on the Kurdish regions resulted in the death and injury of civilians, not to mention targeting forests and farms, and emptying dozens of border villages, at a time when all local and official appeals failed to convince Turkey to stop operations.

 

The Turkish army continues its operations in Duhok's Mount Metin, despite local and official appeals to Ankara to stop its aggression, which resulted in civilian casualties and emptying dozens of villages of their residents. read more

 

The Turkish army last month launched a new ground and air offensive allegedly against militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) dubbed Operation Claw Lightning. 

 

Turkey has carried out cross-border offensives of varying magnitude allegedly against the PKK for decades. However, in recent years, it's begun to establish more of a sustained presence in a growing number of bases and checkpoints dotting the mountains of the Kurdistan Region despite calls from Iraqi authorities to stop these actions. 

 

Earlier in May, the Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar made an illegal visit to the Turkish soldiers at a military base in the Kurdistan Region without informing the Iraqi side which prompted the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to summon the Turkish embassy’s chargé d'affaires and hand him a memorandum which noted “strong dissatisfaction and condemnation of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi’s presence on Iraqi territory without coordination or prior approval from relative authorities, as well his meeting with Turkish forces who are there illegally.”

 

Turkey has repeatedly bombarded areas within the Kurdistan Region claiming that it is targeting PKK in the area. It has launched air and ground military operations in the Kurdistan Region in mid-June last year, on the grounds of targeting alleged PKK positions. read more

 

Thousands of acres of land have been burnt and many villages have been evacuated due to Turkish bombings, and even civilian casualties have fallen due to the continuous Turkish operations in the Kurdistan Region. read more

According to Al-Monitor, Arzu Yilmaz, a Middle East scholar and visiting fellow at Hamburg University reckons that there are more than 5,000 Turkish forces currently deployed in Iraqi Kurdistan and Bashiqa, an area under Iraqi central government control lying east of Mosul.

 

KRG leaders have warned that the wave of Turkish incursions, which have caused dozens of civilian deaths has made advances, deploying troops within three kilometers of Duhok's Kesta village. Heavy clashes have terrified villagers and forced families to flee their homes. The Iraqi government frequently condemns Turkey’s operations but appears powerless to stop them.

 

Sherko Mirwais, head of the Foreign Relations Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, said in a previous statement to PUKmedia that the Iraqi government, the Presidency of the Republic, and the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee condemned the recurrence of the Turkish bombing more than once, explaining that Ankara must respect international laws and solve its problems inside its territories.

 

 

 

PUKmedia