As the Turkish military’s occupation of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) intensifies, three groups of civil-political activists and intellectuals have issued statements addressed to the Iraqi presidency, the United Nations, and all consulates located in the region. They declared that the Turkish government has occupied parts of Kurdistan’s territory and demanded a response to this violation of the sovereignty of both the Kurdistan Region and Iraq by Turkey.
Over the past three days the activists in Suleymaniyah (Silemani) have published three statements. These statements warn that Turkey is intent on occupying parts of the Kurdistan Region and call for international institutions, political parties, and the public to take a stand regarding the genocide and ecocide being perpetrated by the Turkish army.
In the first statement, a group of civil activists addressed international assemblies, consulates of foreign countries in the KRI, and public opinion. They referred to Turkey’s actions as state terrorism, asserting that the attack on the KRI aims to commit genocide and ecocide. They demanded a clear position from international forums on this issue.
Another group, consisting of 144 academics, intellectuals, and journalists in Suleymaniyah, also published statements addressed to public opinion, calling for a boycott of Turkish goods in the Kurdistan Region. According to these activists, the Turkish government has launched brutal ground attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan, penetrating deep insitde KRI territory with hundreds of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and thousands of soldiers. They assert that the Turkish government aims to occupy the entire Badinan (Behdinan) area and is continuously threatening Suleymaniyah and other regions. Despite these aggressive actions, neither the Iraqi government nor the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has taken an official stance on the matter.
Yet another group of civil activists released a statement addressed to the President of the KRI, the Political Bureaus of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and other Kurdistan parties. They expressed deep concern about the ground attacks on Northern Iraq and demanded that the political parties take a serious and swift stance. Emphasizing their national responsibility, they called for an end to the Turkish government’s occupation.
In recent years, the Turkish government has intensified its attacks on the Kurdistan Region, using the presence of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) forces as a pretext to continue its occupation. These attacks have resulted in the loss of many civilian lives. In contrast to the unwavering cooperation of the Kurdistan Democratic Party with the Turkish state, civil and political activists have kept on protesting against the occupation, and their voices are growing louder.
