.jpg)
Journalists and others in Sulaymaniyah protesting the killing of two female journalists by Turkish drones on 23 August
By Arian Mufid:
Earlier this month, on 15th August 2024, the Iraqi government and Turkey signed an agreement as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration. The agreement involves establishing coordination centers in Baghdad and Bashiqa near Mosul to improve efforts against the PKK.
These centers will enable the two countries to work together more effectively in the fight against terrorism, particularly against the PKK, according to a Turkish diplomatic official. However, the Turkish state and military junta have been using the PKK as a pretext to destroy and burn villages in southern Kurdistan. Since 2019, 500 villagers have been displaced from their homes around Duhok and Erbil due to Turkish military operations against the PKK.
Turkey’s actions against the PKK are not new. Erdogan’s continued statements on the issue make it clear that his policy is a continuation of the attacks that began in April. The history of the Ottoman Empire and its chain of genocidal wars against Kurds in northern Kurdistan (Turkey) are well-documented.
The Turks have consistently managed to destabilize other parts of Kurdistan, often with the help of internal enemies. The KDP and its leadership openly advocate for the Turkish military junta against the PKK and cannot simply explain why they allow the Turkish incursion into Iraq, creating an 18,000 km² buffer zone. Prominent Kurdish journalist Hevidar Ahmed recently produced videos showing the devastating effects of Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish villages in the Duhok area.
The video highlights the fierce fighting between Turkish forces and the PKK fighters, with Gara Mountain being the center of the struggle between the two sides. The footage clearly shows that the Turkish military is not just fighting the PKK but is also destroying villages and the homes of poor people under the pretense of chasing PKK fighters. In Shilaze village, Osman Reshkit, a well-known honey farmer, was targeted by the Turkish military in mid-July. He was killed, and his home was destroyed.
In a previous interview with local TV, Osman had proudly stated that his farm produced almost 80kg of honey per year. His death has devastated his wife of eight years, and his father was in tears in the video. Osman died due to the severity of his injuries, one of the many casualties of Turkish aggression inside Iraq. So far, 38 people have died as a result of these attacks.
Despite the ongoing violence, former Kurdistan Parliament MP Gulstra Beg remains in her village, even though she can hear bombs and fighter jets in the area. She showed Hevidar Ahmed the burnt trees and destroyed houses, all consequences of Turkish airstrikes on the border villages. A veteran Peshmerga fighter told Hevidar Ahmed that they want peace for both sides of the conflict and do not want Kurds fighting Kurds. They confirmed that there are almost 1,200 fighters in the Gara mountains, and they are still in control, proving their resilience in the ongoing struggle.
In western Kurdistan, Turkey is striving to dismantle the Kurdish self-rule in Rojava, with daily drone strikes and bombings targeting villages. These attacks are further evidence that the Turkish military targets Kurds wherever they are, always using the PKK connection as a pretext to justify their actions. In one such attack, most of the local infrastructure was destroyed, but with the help of experts, everything was rebuilt within days. The PKK has repeatedly asked for self-rule within the Republic of Turkey and has shown its readiness to negotiate and end the armed struggle. However, nothing has materialized from these efforts.
The Turkish state and its military junta could learn from the UK’s example of negotiating a peace settlement with the IRA, ending a conflict that had lasted for centuries. The UK, once a dominant global empire, initiated a peace process that shook the entire British establishment. Turkey cannot defeat or eliminate Kurdish fighters in any part of Kurdistan. The country has spent trillions of dollars on its war machine to fight Kurds worldwide.
Recently, Turkey attacked a vehicle carrying two journalists sympathetic to the Kurdish cause. Turkey, ruled by the autocratic Erdogan, faces severe economic challenges. The inflation rate in Turkey stands at 38%, and the country’s debt is expected to reach $200 billion in 2024, with a $35 billion deficit. Turkey also leads Europe in the number of prisoners; according to the 2023 Council of Europe, more than a third of inmates in Europe are in Turkish prisons. As of January 31, 2023, the total number of inmates in European jails was 1,036,680, with Turkey accounting for 348,265 of them.
