In light of the ongoing attacks by Turkish forces on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) for Iraqi Kurdistan have published a new article reflecting on the tragic Kandakolen Massacre.
On 15 August 2000, “Turkish fighter jets bombed a nomadic encampment in Kandakolen region of the Sidakan subdistrict, killing 30 civilians and injuring 14. In the incident, 15 children were killed and 9 were injured,” the CPT wrote. The fighter jets bombed the encampment twice, with survivors reporting that two helicopters poured acid from above.
Kak Asad, a survivor of the Kandakolen Massacre, told his story to the CPT. “It was 4 o’clock. We were with the sheep. The bombardment was near us. We could see it from the mountains. I looked down from the mountains and our encampment turned black. Some of us went down and some disappeared. The cheese oil was still burning.”
Another survivor, Kak Mohammed, said “We were sitting on the ground drinking tea when the plane hit us. We lost track of each other. My cousin died. They were also hit by acid and it is still visible on the trees. They bombed us two times. First they hit us, then they came back and hit us again five minutes later. There were two helicopters throwing acid. The killed people had only pieces of bones remaining. Even the stones were burning. We haven’t done anything to Turkey. The PKK wasn’t there. We didn’t have any interaction with the PKK. Where we were there, there was no PKK.”
Turkey has long defended its attacks on the KRI but claiming to be targeting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). However, many civilians with no discernible link to the organisation have been deliberately targeted in these attacks throughout the years.
A recent report by the CPT showed that Turkish and Iranian military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991 have resulted in 845 civilian casualties. Over 80 percent of these, amounting to some 702 casualties, have been attributed to Turkish forces.
The Kandakolen Massacre is the largest such attack conducted by Turkey.
The Sidakan area is the ancestral land for nomadic Kurdish groups who have been affected by the highest rate of casualties and displacement.
“Nomadic people from Sidakan are left without any compensation for their casualties, loss of land, and animals. Their way of life is also lost and that’s one of the deepest traumas for the survivors, not being able to resume their way of life in their ancestral lands,” the CPT noted:
Kak Mohammad told CPT “My wife was about to give birth and she was bombed. She was hit while in labor. Fatima’s arms were gone. All torn to pieces. I had such a good life back then. No money but a happy heart. I just want to be there. It reminds me of everything. Our joyful time together. That is our ancestral land. We’ve been grazing there with our livestock for generations. After the incident we stopped going there. Once I went back to our land but the fighter jets came back again. When they came I lifted my small grandchild into the air and shouted you can kill her as well.”
Seventeen percent of casualties by Turkish military operations since 1991 have occurred in Sidakan, the CPT reported. “In total, 352 civilians have been killed and 359 have been injured due to Turkish military operations, bringing the total number of casualties to 724,” they said.
Turkey is continuing to target civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan. On 24 September, civilian homes in Goharzi village in the Amediya (Amêdî) district of Duhok (Dihok), came under the fire of Turkish forces, causing substantial damage.
According to the most recent CPT statistics, Turkish airstrikes in Iraqi Kurdistan have killed nine civilians this year. However, these numbers may now be considerably higher as several more people have been killed during September 2024.
The Kandakolen Massacre bears resemblance to the Zergelê Massacre, which occured nine years ago at the hands of Turkish forces. On 1 August 2015, Turkish warplanes bombed the village of Zergelê in the Qandil mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan. The attack, which Turkey claimed targeted a PKK camp, killed eight civilians, including women and children, and injured 10 others.
