‘Enough’: Kurdish villagers demand end to Turkish airstrikes
AMEDI, Kurdistan Region – Villagers in Kurdistan Region’s mountains are demanding the government work with Ankara to end Turkish airstrikes after three were killed on Wednesday night when out checking their beehives.
"The people are poor. They go out for their work. There is no need any more for people to be martyred and killed," said an uncle of one of the victims.
He said he hopes the KRG will talk with Turkey to stop the attacks.
Ramazan Ahmed, Dilovan Salih, and Ismael Hassan from the village of Aradnan were killed in Turkish airstrikes on Wednesday night. Two of the victims were Peshmerga.
The three men had gone to check on their honey bees.
"It is apparent that they had sat down together at a spot to eat their meal in the afternoon when they were hit," Mustafah, a resident of the village, told Rudaw.
While Turkey frequently carries out airstrikes against alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region’s mountains, locals say this was the first time this area was targeted.
The three who were killed regularly went to the area and believed it to be safe.
“It is a touristic place. Everyone goes there. Some youth go there for a walk. It is not very far. It is a place for tourism and talking walks,” Shaaban Hassan, a relative of one of the victims, told Rudaw.
Based on Rudaw’s investigations, in the past year, Turkish jets have bombed Amedi district 98 times, and at least 12 people have been killed.
“This incident was unexpected. It means you can’t go out into your streets. Your soil becomes a no-go area. This is injustice and oppressive. Nowhere in the world is your home forbidden to you, for your streets, orchard, your home, your moving around. Where should we go, then?” Haydar Hassan, another relative, told Rudaw.
One local said “enough” to the villagers becoming victims of “Turkey’s crimes.”
"We call on the Regional Government to prevent such attacks, or to notify the people through media or security agencies to not go to such dangerous places," he said.
Neither government in Erbil or Baghdad has issued a statement on the deaths, as of time of publication.
Sarkawt Shams, an MP in Baghdad for the New Generation, tweeted his condemnation of the Turkish airstrikes that “targeted a civilian area where villagers live.”
The Iraqi government must “take action to protect Iraqi citizens immediately,” he stated.
Turkey frequently bombs the border areas of the Kurdistan Region allegedly targeting bases belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
"The people are poor. They go out for their work. There is no need any more for people to be martyred and killed," said an uncle of one of the victims.
He said he hopes the KRG will talk with Turkey to stop the attacks.
Ramazan Ahmed, Dilovan Salih, and Ismael Hassan from the village of Aradnan were killed in Turkish airstrikes on Wednesday night. Two of the victims were Peshmerga.
The three men had gone to check on their honey bees.
"It is apparent that they had sat down together at a spot to eat their meal in the afternoon when they were hit," Mustafah, a resident of the village, told Rudaw.
While Turkey frequently carries out airstrikes against alleged PKK positions in the Kurdistan Region’s mountains, locals say this was the first time this area was targeted.
The three who were killed regularly went to the area and believed it to be safe.
“It is a touristic place. Everyone goes there. Some youth go there for a walk. It is not very far. It is a place for tourism and talking walks,” Shaaban Hassan, a relative of one of the victims, told Rudaw.
Based on Rudaw’s investigations, in the past year, Turkish jets have bombed Amedi district 98 times, and at least 12 people have been killed.
“This incident was unexpected. It means you can’t go out into your streets. Your soil becomes a no-go area. This is injustice and oppressive. Nowhere in the world is your home forbidden to you, for your streets, orchard, your home, your moving around. Where should we go, then?” Haydar Hassan, another relative, told Rudaw.
One local said “enough” to the villagers becoming victims of “Turkey’s crimes.”
"We call on the Regional Government to prevent such attacks, or to notify the people through media or security agencies to not go to such dangerous places," he said.
Neither government in Erbil or Baghdad has issued a statement on the deaths, as of time of publication.
Sarkawt Shams, an MP in Baghdad for the New Generation, tweeted his condemnation of the Turkish airstrikes that “targeted a civilian area where villagers live.”
The Iraqi government must “take action to protect Iraqi citizens immediately,” he stated.
Turkey frequently bombs the border areas of the Kurdistan Region allegedly targeting bases belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).