WAITING FOR THE SUN. WHEN EVERY MEETING CARRIES LOSS
Press Release
On 19 July 2022, a serious attack was recorded in the village of Parakhe, near Zakho (in the Kurdish province of Duhok); the attack left 9 dead and 24 injured. For the past seven years, Turkey has been responsible for attacks of this type, which directly target civilians: to date, they have caused a total of at least 98 civilian casualties, as well as forcing thousands of people to be displaced.
Research conducted by the international civil society coalition End Cross Border Bombing Campaign (ECBBC) details for the first time the civilian impact of an often forgottenaggression.
Since 2015, Turkey's armed forces have launched more than 4,000 military actions on Iraqi territory (adding up air, ground and artillery attacks); of these, 1600 were recorded during 2021 alone, according to the report.
The report shows that these operations have not only fuelled the conditions of insecurity and instability in the area, but have also disproportionately impacted the lives of the civilians living there.
Some of the most relevant and interesting observations in the report:
Turkish military actions have killed between 98 and 123 civilians, in the course of at least 88 attacks.
Attacks on civilians are growing steadily: at least 40 incidents occurred in the period 2020-2021 alone.
More than 55 farmers and cattle breeders were injured or killed by Turkish forces while they were working the land or tending their livestock.
13% of the victims were women,87% were men. Children were also involved, with a total of 6 children killed and 14 injured.
An estimated 500 villages were abandoned during the reporting period.
"Every story published in the report is important, and we cannot wait any longer to collect and document more stories like these. Rather, as human beings we must collectively work for the peace of the Iraqi people. United we can act so that the tragedies of history do not repeat themselves," said Mohammed Salah of Community Peacemakers Teams, a member organisation of ECBBC.
"The disastrous US-led invasion of Iraq has been widely discussed, but in many ways this is the forgotten invasion of Iraq," he added.
>> DOWNLOAD THE REPORT IN ENGLISH>>
For more information, write to:endcrossborderbombing@gmail.com
A rich mosaic of communities populates the region of Iraqi Kurdistan and the governorate of Nineveh; most of them live in mountain villages, where they engage in agro-pastoral activities. For many, air strikes pose a tangible and all too frequent risk to their livelihoods and lives. An unspecified but substantial number of families have been forced to abandon their homes as a result of the devastation caused by the bombing, or fearing for their lives, and move to nearby towns or IDP camps where there are no basic services or infrastructure.
For more than 30 years, under the pretext of fighting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants, the Turkish air force has been conducting cross-border military operations within Iraq's borders. To date, Ankara has faced few consequences for these aggressions. According to local sources, more than 60 Turkish military bases have been built on Iraqi territory in recent years - from which these operations have often been launched.
Since 2015, the Turkish army has launched several military campaigns, penetrating deeper and deeper into Iraqi territory. The most recent operation, called Claw Lock, was launched in early 2022, and to date has seen the Turkish military establish itself just 40 kilometres from some of the most important cities in Iraqi Kurdistan, including Erbil - the de-facto capital of the semi-autonomous region.
The ECBBC report details the incidents and provides the numbers of civilian deaths and injuries, but also has the merit of analysing the circumstances of each incident and presenting theidentity of 155 of the victims.
The data was collected mainly through interviews with survivors of the attacks, their families and community members, local government representatives, and through precise analysis; the information obtained was consolidated by cross-referencing information on social media and widely accessible media.
The databases on incidents and casualties, produced in conjunction with the report, represent a valuable and unique archive of the civilian casualties caused by the Turkish army's incursion within Iraq's borders, and reveal the extent and severity of the crimes produced by such operations.
There is a huge gap between the scale of Turkish operations and their damage to the civilian population, which goes far beyond deaths and injuries, and the documentation of them. The impact of Turkey's operations on civilians is still poorly documented. The civilian population has no channels to report the damage suffered and receive the necessary support. It is our belief that this report will help to bridge this worrying gap.
The Campaign calls on international civil society and organisations to help urge the parties involved in the conflict to find a peaceful solution to the current situation, in the interest of the civilian population, who are forced to pay the highest price for the belligerent policies adopted by the state actors involved.
End Cross Border Bombing is a campaign born two years ago, and is a coalition of local and international actors who aim to conduct advocacy and raise awareness about the bombing in Iraq. The coalition consists of: Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative, Community Peacemaker Teams, Iraq Body Count, CODEPINK, NOVACT, Un Ponte Per, Solidarity with Kurdistan/Solkurd.
>> DOWNLOAD THE REPORT IN ENGLISH>>
For more information please contact:
Iraqi Kurdistan - Mohammed Salah alandandaro@gmail.com
Iraq - Tiba Yousif icssi.project02@gmail.com
Italy and Europe - Bianca Farsetti bianca.farsetti@unponteper.it
United Kingdom - Hamit Dardagan hamit.dardagan@iraqbodycount.org
United States - Nancy Mancias nancymancias@codepink.org
Norway - Jila Hassanpour jila-h@hotmail.com
Spain - Marta Fernandez marta@novact.org
