“How can I compensate for the damage? My children spent one year cultivating this tomato field. See what's happened to it,” he said.
On Tuesday morning, Turkey sent more than 20 aircraft 200 kilometres deep into Kurdistan Region territory, claiming to hit 28 “terrorist” targets. The area is a farming community near Penjwen, south of the Asos mountains and along Sulaimani’s border with Iran.
Turkey regularly conducts cross-border operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey that has its headquarters and bases in the Kurdistan Region.
Locals said the PKK is not in their area.
“There are no PKK gunmen in this area. Except for the farmers, there is nothing else in the area,” said Pshtiwan Hassan.
“It [Turkey] has destroyed all this area without hitting a PKK base. They destroyed the orchards of the poor farmers. They might be passing through here, but we haven't seen any PKK bases,” said Salih Hassan, another villager.
Turkey’s operations are usually focused on northern Duhok province, but it has occasionally gone further south. In May, Turkish planes bombed the Asos mountain range.
There were no reported casualties as a result of the airstrikes, but fields, orchards, and a house were damaged, and the bombs sparked fires and fear.
“We were terrified. I swear to God, we thought it would turn our village upside down. My wife’s fear has kept her in bed since then,” said Abdulkarim Sheikh Mareni.
The farmer with a crater in the middle of his field estimates the damage is 35 million dinars ($23,982). He asked government leaders to visit, bringing with them Turkey’s envoy.
“I urge Mr. Nechirvan [Barzani, Kurdistan Region president] and Mr. Qubad [Talabani, Kurdistan Region deputy prime minister] to have the Turkish consul come here and confirm whether PKK members are located here or if it belongs to a farmer,” said Marif.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
