US commission calls on Turkey to end miltary operations in Iraq
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - The official US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Friday condemned Turkey’s latest round of airstrikes and ground operations near civilian areas in ‘northern Iraq,’ demanding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan order an immediate end to these actions.
“USCIRF calls on Turkey to immediately cease its brutal airstrikes in Sinjar, Iraq and to withdraw any ground troops—who represent a dangerous escalation of violence in an already-fragile area,” USCIRF Chair Gayle Manchin said, in a public statement. “These actions are particularly threatening to hundreds of traumatized Yazidi families attempting to return to Sinjar and to other civilians in northern Iraq—none of whom deserve to be placed in harm’s way by a NATO ally.”
On Monday, Turkish warplanes carried out intensive airstrikes against alleged PKK targets in Shingal, Qandil and Makhmour, as part of a military operation launched by Ankara called “Eagle Claw.”
The airstrikes in Sinjar were criticized by Yezidi (Ezidi) activists, fearing it could hamper the recent return of Yezidi that were displaced during the Islamic State genocide carried out against Ezidis in August 2014.
“The Turkish government claims that these actions, representing the most recent in a series of similar operations in the Sinjar area since 2017, are ostensibly targeting Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions,” US Commission on International Religious Freedom statement added.
“However, these indiscriminate operations have taken place just days after 200 families arrived in Sinjar after six years (living) in a refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraq. It also was in close proximity to towns and camps in which displaced Yazidi families have taken refuge since the 2014 genocide by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”
USCIRF Vice Chair Nadine Maenza told Kurdistan 24 that “Turkey’s activities in Iraq – and also in Northeast Syria – represent their national ambition and not the defeat of an existential threat.”
“To attack the ancestral homeland (Sinjar) of the most persecuted people in Iraq, the Yazidi people, is against international law and will likely deter them from returning.“
“We would expect the atrocities we are seeing by Turkey against religious minorities in Iraq and Syria from a terrorist group like ISIS and not from a NATO Ally.“
On Wednesday, the Turkish Defense Ministry announced the launch of Operation Claw-Eagle against the PKK.
In recent years, Turkey has carried out military operations against PKK fighters based in mountainous border areas in the Kurdistan Region with continued regularity, with troops sometimes crossing into the region up to 20 kilometers deep in some areas to target the guerilla group.
During the bombings, Ankara has killed dozens of civilians unaffiliated to the PKK since then and has caused extensive damage to farms and killed locals’ livestock, leading to local protest by civilians.
According to the activist group Christian Peacemaker Teams - Iraqi Kurdistan several civilians were killed in the recent operation. On Wednesday, Abas Maghdid (30) was killed in a Turkish military airstrike. Moreover, five civilians were killed by a Turkish military bombing in Shiladze last Friday.
The Kurdistan Region’s Parliament on Saturday condemned Turkey’s military offensive and called for political dialogue.
“We the Kurdistan Parliament condemn Turkey’s recent military attacks on the PKK in Kurdistan, which killed several Kurdistan Region citizens living near the border areas.”
“We believe that any war or military action makes the prospect of lasting peace more distant, and that the only way to solve Turkey’s Kurdish problem is through political dialogue. We support democratic, parliamentary and civic struggle in Turkey, and we call on neighbouring countries not to use Kurdistan Region’s territory as a battlefield.”
Editing by John J. Catherine