Recently, the Turkish government announced that it is bombing and pursuing the PKK organization in northern Iraq( Kurdistan). This is taking place with the agreement of the Iraqi government and the Kurdish regional government. This time, the Turkish government has penetrated deep into the Iraqi borders until it reached Duhok City and bombed the villages around the city. Several civilians died as a result.

Before the recent events, Shiladze, Diraluk and Kani Masi villages were bombed by Turkey many times.  there were dozens of Turkish soldiers in the helicopter up the mountain in the Niru Rekan area. The local population suffered from the bombings, which caused material damage and injuries. In addition, all this. Families who have lived in these areas for a long time have been forced to leave, due to insecurity. However, other families stayed at home despite the fear and difficulty in accessing their land for farming, due to the bombing.

This Turkish occupation angers the Iraqi society in general. It feeds into the feeling that Iraq has no sovereignty because on the one hand, Iran and its militias intervene in Iraq, and on the other hand, Turkey bombs and occupies Kurdish areas in addition to American control of Iraq. Therefore, Iraqis feel that they have no homeland, no sovereignty, and no political representation in the government, and that they live at the mercy of a dictatorial state.

We call for the protection of civilians from these violations and the guarantee of human rights and fair compensation. We also call the international community to observe what is happening on the borders of Kurdistan.

Many people in Tahrir Square in Baghdad went out with strong protests against Turkish interference in northern Iraq and against Iranian interference. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has not issued any comment on the matter yet while the Turkish government stated that this matter is taking place within the security agreement that Turkey signed with Iraq as well as the Kurdistan regional government. Today, activists are organizing a “central committee for protests” whose goal is to stand firmly against the Turkish occupation in particular and against the continued interference in Iraqi sovereignty in general from any side. This committee recently issued a statement denouncing the Turkish military measures in the Kurdistan region. The Central Committee announced that a delegation of the demonstrators would visit the Turkish embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad and deliver this statement to them. If the Turkish government did not respond to the demonstrators’ demands and withdraw from the Kurdistan region, the Central Committee will organizes a large demonstrations in front of the Turkish embassy.

All solidarity with the Kurdish people against Erdogan’s dictatorship