Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, the First Lady of Iraq, has condemned the Turkish military’s invasion into Iraqi Kurdistan, highlighting the severe impact on civilians and infrastructure. “We continue to receive alarming reports of Turkish incursions into sovereign Iraqi territory. Every day we see live footage of Turkish military movement and attacks on Kurdish and Assyrian villages,” Ahmed wrote on X (Twitter) on 17 July.
According to Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a US-based conflict monitor and human rights organisation, the Turkish army has advanced 15km into Kurdistan Region territory, with bombardments predominantly in Duhok, Ahmed said.
“Innocent civilians are forced to flee their homes and find refuge in displacement camps,” Ahmed echoed. Since the start of these new incursions, at least 602 villages are under threat, with attacks destroying one school and an Assyrian church.
“We’ve learned that 20,000 dunams (20 square km) of agricultural land have been burned as a result of Turkish bombardment,” Ahmed added, citing reports that in one village alone, 55 percent of agricultural land has been incinerated.
Ahmed questioned whether there were any agreements allowing such actions. “The Iraqi public should know if there is any agreement between Ankara and Baghdad, or Ankara and Erbil (Hewlêr), which permits a neighbouring country to treat Iraq as their own territory. If there is such an agreement, then public outrage should be directed at Iraqi or Kurdish authorities,” she asserted.
The First Lady’s statements underscore the urgent need for transparency and accountability regarding these incursions and their devastating effects on local communities.
Writing in Newsweek magazine last week, Ahmed laid out the devastating human cost and political risk of Turkey’s de facto occupation of parts of Kurdish territory in Iraq and called on the international community to “take the necessary steps” while also urging her own federal government to act.
“We firmly reject the growing Turkish invasion of our country and make it clear to Ankara that its military presence is illegitimate and that its forces have no authority to evict our citizens from their homes and villages,” she said.
