The suffering of civilians continues as Türkiye intensifies its war against the Kurds in Iraq

[size=52]The suffering of civilians continues as Türkiye intensifies its war against the Kurds in Iraq[/size]

[size=45]Samir Saado (17 years old) was finishing his shift as a cleaner at the village medical center when the building was hit by an air strike.[/size]
[size=45]Saado, who belongs to the Yazidi minority in Iraq, said, “I did not see anything but dust and smoke.” “My leg got stuck under the rubble. I screamed for help and people were coming, but the planes continued to bomb.”[/size]
[size=45]Local officials said that at least four civilians were killed in this attack, which occurred on August 17, 2021. Among the dead was Saado’s father, who worked as a cook at the medical center in Sinjar Governorate in northern Iraq, about 100 kilometers from the Turkish border. Saado suffered a broken pelvis and a crack in his skull.[/size]
[size=45]A data analysis conducted by Reuters showed that this strike was part of escalating attacks carried out by Turkish aircraft and drones on Kurdish-majority areas in Iraq and Syria, and that these attacks have continued since then. Western companies have provided critical components for the drones, which Kurdish and Iraqi officials say Turkey is deploying with increasing frequency.[/size]
[size=45]Air strikes have escalated since Turkey launched Operation Claw-Lock in April last year. The Turkish Ministry of Defense says the goal is to protect the Turkish border “and neutralize terrorism and terrorists at the source.” Earlier this month, Turkey carried out air strikes on militant targets in northern Iraq and Syria after the Kurdistan Workers' Party claimed responsibility for a bomb attack near government buildings in Ankara, wounding two policemen.[/size]
[size=45]Northern Iraq is a base for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, from which it has launched many deadly attacks on Turkey over the decades. The United States and the European Union classify it as a terrorist organization.[/size]
[size=45]Turkish operations in Syria target the Kurdish People's Protection Units, which Ankara says are affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The YPG is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces and is an ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS.[/size]
[size=45]The Turkish Ministry of Defense said in a statement to Reuters that all its operations fall “within the framework of international law and respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all our neighbors.”[/size]
[size=45]The statement added, “In planning and implementing operations, only terrorists and their locations, warehouses, and shelters are targeted, and we show the utmost care and sensitivity to prevent harm to civilians and prevent damage to infrastructure and cultural sites.”[/size]
[size=45]“Any claims to the contrary are baseless, slanderous and lies,” he continued.[/size]
[size=45]Reuters was unable to contact the Kurdistan Workers' Party. The Syrian Democratic Forces said that the Turkish strikes in Syria were unjustified. A spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units stated that its forces “did not fire a single bullet towards the Turkish state.”[/size]
[size=45]Reuters analyzed incidents of violence monitored by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a global research organization that collects reports from media outlets, government reports, non-governmental groups and other sources.[/size]
[size=45]This analysis showed that in 2022, Turkey carried out at least 2,044 air strikes in Kurdish-majority areas in Iraq and Syria, a 53 percent increase over the previous year and the highest number recorded since the project began documenting air strikes in the two countries in 2017. These numbers are an estimate. Most likely conservative because the Reuters analysis excludes air strikes that may have been carried out during the fighting.[/size]
[size=45]The project derives its information about air strikes in northern Iraq and Syria from sources including the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the official Turkish Anadolu news agency, and groups monitoring the conflict, including the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Air Wars Group.[/size]
[size=45]According to the analysis, the medical center in Skinya is one of at least eight medical facilities that were bombed in Turkish air strikes or ground bombardments between 2018 and the first half of 2023. The Turkish government issued a statement four days after the air strike in Skinya, stating that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reassured then-Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi in a phone call that the recent operation only targeted members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and groups allied with it. The statement added that the site that was bombed “was not a hospital or health care center,” but rather one of the organization’s strongholds. The statement did not mention Skinia.[/size]
[size=45]In its statement to Reuters, the Ministry of Defense said that Turkey has not “and will never” target civilian gatherings, especially healthcare facilities and their workers.”[/size]
[size=45]Three local residents told Reuters that a wounded PKK fighter was being treated at the center at the time of the air strike. Two of them stated that the fighter survived the attack. Local officials indicated that four members of the Sinjar Resistance Units, allied with the PKK, who were guarding the center were killed in the attack.[/size]
[size=45]In some other attacks analyzed by Reuters, people at the attack site were linked to or suspected of being linked to the PKK.[/size]
[size=45]Four legal experts told Reuters they believe the attack on the medical center violated international humanitarian law and likely constitutes a war crime because it is illegal to target medical facilities and injured combatants and civilians. In July, two NGOs, the British-based Accountability Unit and Germany-based Women for Justice, filed a complaint on behalf of the victims to the UN Human Rights Committee, arguing that the attack violated the victims' right to life under the protection of international law.[/size]
[size=45]Tatiana Eatwell, a member of the legal team, said that the victims' case is that targeting the hospital, a civilian medical center that treats the local population and is located far from any ongoing hostilities in which Turkey is currently involved, was illegal and prohibited under international humanitarian law and constitutes a violation of international human rights law. Human. Turkey did not show any reaction to the lawsuit, which may take years to decide.[/size]
[size=45]A Turkish Defense Ministry spokesman said in a press conference last month that Turkish military operations “come within the framework of our right to self-defense” under international law. The spokesman said in an opening statement that the Turkish Armed Forces “only target terrorists,” take great care not to harm civilian sites or the environment, and “display a sensitivity that no other army shows.”[/size]
[size=45]Data analysis shows that Turkish strikes reach deep into Iraq and Syria and cover a wider area. In 2017, Turkish air strikes targeted fewer than 36 sites in Iraq and Syria. In 2022, planes or drones struck more than 240 locations in the two countries. The conflict has killed thousands of people and emptied hundreds of villages in the past eight years, according to non-governmental organizations and local officials.[/size]
[size=45]Türkiye's allies in NATO and international organizations are concerned.[/size]
[size=45]In response to a request for comment, a US Defense Department spokesperson told Reuters that “uncoordinated military operations jeopardize” the mission against the Islamic State and the safety of US and coalition forces. The spokesman added that while we are aware of the security threat posed by the PKK to Turkey within its borders, “we urge the Turkish government to respect Iraqi sovereignty and coordinate its military operations with the relevant authorities.”[/size]
[size=45]On Thursday, the United States shot down a Turkish drone that was operating near its forces in Syria, and this is the first time Washington has taken such a step.[/size]
[size=45]Two days after the air strike in Skinya, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq said in a statement that it was following developments “with great concern.”[/size]
[size=45]The statement added, “All necessary preventive measures must be taken during military operations, including air strikes, to protect and reduce harm to civilians who often suffer from the repercussions of these attacks.” The statement did not mention Turkey.[/size]
[size=45]Some analysts say that whatever the outcome of the human rights accusations, the Turkish attacks threaten to have strategic adverse consequences for Ankara by weakening the international coalition against extremist groups in the region. Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said the Turkish strikes “are eroding the security forces confronting ISIS.” He added, "In Iraq, the strikes could encourage Iran and the militias loyal to it to expand their operations."[/size]
[size=45]He continued, "This may set a precedent for other parties to exploit and co-opt Iraq."[/size]
[size=45]* A long war[/size]
[size=45]Turkey has been at war with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which has been demanding greater rights for Kurds since the 1980s. This conflict claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.[/size]
[size=45]Initially, the war was mainly in southeastern Turkey, where most of the country's Kurds are based. The PKK operated from the mountainous border with Iraq and established a presence in northern Iraq, which has a Kurdish majority, a region that also harbors other ethnic and religious minorities: Assyrians, Turkmen, and Yazidis. These minorities were also involved in the conflict alongside the Turks, Kurds, and Arabs.[/size]
[size=45]In 2013, the Kurdistan Workers' Party declared a ceasefire and called on its members to withdraw to northern Iraq, where the party's headquarters are now.[/size]
[size=45]When the ceasefire collapsed in 2015, the conflict entered one of its bloodiest phases. Kurdish fighters carried out bombings in Turkish cities. In an attack carried out by a group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party in December 2016, a car bomb and a suicide bombing killed 44 in front of a football stadium in Istanbul.[/size]
[size=45]The Turkish Ministry of Defense said in its statement to Reuters that since the beginning of 2017, the PKK and its allied groups have carried out more than 2,200 aggressive acts, including an attack on schools in Gaziantep province in November last year, which resulted in the killing of a five-year-old child and a teacher. The ministry stated that these attacks “were planned in northern Iraq” and that “materials, weapons and ammunition are also stored in these areas.”[/size]
[size=45]The Turkish army, NATO's second-largest fighting force, responded by pushing deeper into northern Iraq. Military operations against the PKK received strong support from most Turks. Turkey now has about 80 military points in Iraq, at least 50 of which were built in the past two years.[/size]
[size=45]The Defense Ministry said last month that Turkish forces had “neutralized” nearly 39,000 fighters since 2015, using a term that usually means killing. The ministry stated in its statement to Reuters that during the same period, 1,602 Turkish security forces were killed in attacks or clashes with the Kurdistan Workers' Party and its allies.[/size]
[size=45]The statement added that as part of Operation Claw-Lock, “the caves and hideouts that the party had used for years were cleared one by one.”[/size]
[size=45]He said that more than 2,900 weapons and 1.3 million pieces of ammunition were confiscated, and 4,500 explosive devices were detected and destroyed.[/size]
[size=45]* A drone strike[/size]
[size=45]About 24 hours before the attack on the medical center in Skinya in 2021, a Turkish drone bombed a car in the nearby town of Sinjar. Six local sources said that the strike resulted in the killing of the two occupants of the car, Saeed Hassan and Issa Khudida, who were leaders in the Sinjar Resistance Units.[/size]
[size=45]The pro-government Turkish newspaper Sabah published a report on the strike. She said that the Turkish army used a Bayraktar TB2 drone to carry it out.[/size]
[size=45]Three local sources told Reuters that one of the fighters was injured and taken to the medical center in Skinya in the early hours of August 17. The sources added that the air strikes targeted the center shortly after it was moved there.[/size]
[size=45]The scene at the medical center was chaotic after the attack. A clip filmed by a local journalist and obtained by Reuters showed boxes of medicine and X-ray images scattered on the ground. People were wailing and ambulance sirens were blaring. Rescuers ran back and forth, and four of them carried a body wrapped in a blanket and carefully transferred it to an ambulance. People stood watching what was happening next to one of the few remaining walls of the medical center bearing the Red Crescent logo, which confirms that the building is a medical facility.[/size]
[size=45]Reuters spoke with a number of local residents, local government officials, security officials and local administration. They all said the facility was clearly marked as a medical center and was operating at the time of the attack.[/size]
[size=45]The medical center was the only medical facility in the area, and it employed at least 11 medical staff and other employees and included a laboratory, an X-ray machine, and equipment for performing simple surgeries. It was originally a school and was converted into a medical center run by the local autonomous authorities in Sinjar.[/size]
[size=45]The center provides medical care to fighters of the Sinjar Resistance Units, the Iraqi army, and civilians.[/size]
[size=45]Saado and three other witnesses told Reuters that drones were hovering in the area at the time of the attack. Another witness said he saw fighter planes.[/size]
[size=45]The five stated that the medical center was bombed with at least three strikes, each about three minutes apart.[/size]
[size=45]Wim Zwenberg, a drone expert, said it was unlikely that the medical center was accidentally bombed, especially in light of the declared capabilities of the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone, which is often used in Iraq. He added that this drone is equipped with advanced high-resolution cameras or optical sensors capable of capturing complex details, allowing operators to monitor the target for a long period of time before launching an attack.[/size]
[size=45]Reuters showed Zwienberg the clip showing the Red Crescent logo on the wall of the medical center. He said that in his view the drone operator should have been able to see the logo.[/size]
[size=45]Saado said that he and his family were hoping to live in peace in Sinjar. A decade ago, Saado's family fled their home when Islamic State fighters began killing and kidnapping Yazidis and accusing them of infidelity. The family spent years in camps for displaced people before settling in a village near Skinya in 2018.[/size]
[size=45]“We were in the process of rebuilding our lives... until my father was killed in this attack,” Saado said. From that moment on, life became a nightmare.”[/size]
[size=45]Reuters spoke to Saado again last week. He said he paid smugglers $5,500 to help him reach Europe, and is now in a refugee camp in Greece with dozens of Yazidis.[/size]
[size=45]* “I had a bad feeling.”[/size]
[size=45]Turkish air strikes also reached Iraq's Sulaymaniyah province on the border with Iran.[/size]
[size=45]While Shaler Namik, a Kurdish woman, was preparing breakfast in her home in the village of Tuta Qal in May last year, she heard a bang. At first, she thought it was coming from the hot oven where she was baking bread, but then her husband, Aram Kakakhan, the mayor of the village, received a call from a shepherd who was tending his animals nearby. There was a drone attack.[/size]
[size=45]Kakakhan drove his car to the place, which was about five kilometers from the village, accompanied by his cousin Ismail Ibrahim. There they found three wounded PKK fighters, at least one of whom appeared to be alive. They cooperated to transfer the fighters to Ismail's car and moved the car for about two kilometers towards the nearest medical center when the car was subjected to a second drone bombardment. Namik, other relatives and Kurdish security officials said there were no survivors.[/size]
[size=45]A security official said that the PKK has a base in the region. He added that Ibrahim and Kakakhan provided support to the PKK by lending their cars, providing food, and organizing logistics services, but they were not fighters. Their families denied that the two men had any connection to the PKK.[/size]
[size=45]Across northern Iraq, local residents say they are powerless to prevent armed groups from establishing themselves in their villages and areas. They fear that rejecting requests for assistance from armed groups will put their lives in danger.[/size]
[size=45]On June 15, Namiq visited her husband's grave, which is located on a cliff overlooking the valley and mountains, accompanied by her two young daughters.[/size]
[size=45]The 44-year-old woman said drones were hovering in the sky when Kakakhan left the house. Recalling those moments, she added, “I had a bad feeling and asked him not to go.”[/size]
[size=45]Three villagers told Reuters that they heard the drones buzzing over the area before and after the attack on Kakakhan's car. Türkiye did not respond to a request from Reuters to comment on this incident.[/size]
[size=45]On the day she buried her husband, Namiq moved to the Iraqi city of Chamchamal, about 40 kilometers away, fearing for the safety of her family. This is the third time she has been forced to move. The first time was in 1988, after then Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered a chemical attack on the Kurds. Namiq lost many of her family members in this attack. But she said that her recent displacement was the most difficult.[/size]
[size=45]“He ruined my life,” she added.[/size]
[size=45]Most of the residents left Tuta Qal after the attack that claimed the life of a sleeping husband, turning it into one of about 800 villages that have been empty due to conflict since 2015, according to an official from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government.[/size]
[size=45]It is difficult to know how many people died in the conflict. According to a Reuters analysis of data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, more than 500 civilians and nearly 2,600 members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, the Syrian Democratic Forces and their allied groups were killed in Turkish air strikes in Kurdish-majority areas in Iraq and Syria between the beginning of 2016 and the first half of 2023. This does not include deaths resulting from clashes, artillery fire, shooting and other forms of violence.[/size]
[size=45]The project said that death numbers should be viewed in an estimated manner. He added that announcing the numbers of deaths in conflicts often lacks accuracy. Different parties may have an interest in overestimating or underestimating the numbers, and the dangers of war zones often make it logistically difficult to collect accurate data.[/size]
[size=45]Reuters also analyzed data from the International Crisis Group, an organization that advocates for peace. Crisis Group data shows that the conflict in Iraq claimed the lives of 177 members of the Turkish security forces, 1,293 PKK fighters, and 101 civilians between July 2015 and the end of June 2023. Crisis Group does not collect death tolls from Syria. The collection lists only those whose names are identified and is based on reports from local human rights groups, Turkish-language media, PKK-linked media outlets, and official announcements by the Turkish Armed Forces.[/size]
[size=45]According to estimates by a third group, Peacemaker Teams, which is based in Chicago and documents the repercussions of conflicts in northern Iraq on civilians, at least 148 civilians have been killed and 221 wounded in Turkish operations in Iraq since 2015. Also according to its estimates, about 444,800 acres of land Agriculture burned between 2007 and 2018 due to Turkish military operations in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]* wild trip[/size]
[size=45]Riam Ziad (17 years old) put on her makeup and prepared to set off with her father on a road trip to Iran one morning in early August. She had just finished her high school exams in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and aspired to attend university. Her relatives said that this trip with her father, the school principal, was a well-deserved break.[/size]
[size=45]On a main road about ten kilometers from the Iranian border, their car was bombed by a drone, killing all its passengers instantly: Riam, her father Ziad Khadr, and his friend Hassan Kashmoula, who worked as a communications engineer.[/size]
[size=45]The family said that Reyam and her father returned home the next day in one bag to store the bodies. The cause of death mentioned in the two death certificates seen by Reuters was “100 percent burns due to a large explosion.”[/size]
[size=45]Their remains were unidentifiable when they were seen in the local mosque.[/size]
[size=45]“There are no longer any features,” said Mustafa Anwar, Khader’s nephew. The head, legs and arms were charred. We were able to separate the two bodies. My uncle's body was larger than his daughter's. We carried them, shrouded them, and then buried them.”[/size]
[size=45]The Counter-Terrorism Service in the Kurdistan Region said in a statement shortly after the attack that a Turkish drone targeted the car. He added that the car belonged to the Kurdistan Workers' Party and that one of the passengers was a senior member of the party, but he did not say which one.[/size]
[size=45]The next morning, the Turkish Ministry of Defense wrote in a post on the X website that its forces “neutralized three PKK terrorists” in northern Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]The Khader and Kashmoula families, who are Iraqi Arabs from Mosul, denied that they had any affiliation with the PKK. A security official in the area where the attack occurred also said that those killed were civilians and had no affiliation with the PKK. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.[/size]
[size=45]Sitting in a room full of mourners, Khader's widow, Nidal Mahmoud, said that her husband and his friend were on their way to Iran to pick up her two eldest daughters, who are medical students and were returning home.[/size]
[size=45]“People are dying,” she added. Why is Türkiye bombing us? They say the PKK, but they have nothing to do with the PKK.” She said that her husband “did not belong to any party, and was a teacher and school principal.” “He was minding his own business.”[/size]
[size=45]Nidal was carrying a picture of Reyam, her school certificate, a shirt and a dress. “This is what is left of my daughter,” she said. “She wanted to become a petroleum engineer to improve her father’s standard of living.”[/size]
[size=45]* Surrender[/size]
[size=45]Some Western diplomats and analysts say Turkey's allies in NATO and Europe are reluctant to criticize Ankara for several reasons. Turkey is a strong party in NATO, as was demonstrated last year when it refrained from supporting Sweden's efforts to join the alliance, after it accused Sweden of harboring supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Türkiye agreed in July, but the Turkish Parliament has not yet ratified the order.[/size]
[size=45]Meanwhile, the European Union is looking to Turkey to help limit the numbers of migrants arriving on the continent. Turkey can play a major role in any agreement to end the Ukrainian war, and maintains good relations with both Moscow and Kiev.[/size]
[size=45]The fragile political situation in Iraq means that neither Baghdad nor the Kurdistan Regional Government is strong enough to confront the Turkish presence.[/size]
[size=45]There is an atmosphere of surrender to the Turkish raids on the authorities in northern Iraq. Iraqi officials rarely investigate attacks, and victims rarely receive any compensation.[/size]
[size=45]A source in the federal government said, “We know who is carrying out these attacks... so why should we conduct an investigation?”[/size]
[size=45]Another Iraqi government official said that Turkey does not coordinate with Iraq before carrying out attacks on Iraqi territory. The official added that Baghdad has no influence or influence on the PKK. The government of Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani is new, and confronting cross-border strikes is not a priority for it.[/size]
[size=45]The official continued, “In practice, not much can be done, and they (Turkey) are exploiting the situation.”[/size]
[size=45]An Iraqi government spokesman said in a statement, “We are making international efforts with our friends to prevent these violations of Iraqi sovereignty.” “In fact, these military violations undermine regional and international security and do not serve the interests of Iraq or Turkey.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "Our government has begun to develop a plan to protect the Iraqi borders, such as deploying thousands of border guards and forming joint security committees to work with the Turkish side."[/size]
[size=45]The spokesman pointed out that the Iraqi constitution prohibits armed groups from using Iraqi territory to launch attacks on neighboring countries.[/size]
[size=45]The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government is helpless. It is dominated by two parties allied with two rival clans: the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by the Talabani clan, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by the Barzani clan. As a result, there are effectively two administrations within the Kurdistan region.[/size]
[size=45]“The truth is that there is absolutely nothing we can do,” Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, told Reuters. “Everyone violates Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”[/size]
[size=45](Reporting by Ahmed Rashid from Baghdad and Idris Ali from Washington - Prepared by Marwa Salam for the Arab Bulletin - Edited by Muhammad Al-Yamani)[/size]
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