Duhok Governor Says Timber Seen in Footage Comes From Türkiye

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Duhok Governor Dr. Ali Tatar said Sunday that trees shown being cut in recently circulated footage are located inside Türkiye, rejecting claims that the current logging is taking place within the Kurdistan Region.

Speaking at a press conference on Oct. 4, Tatar said timber from the cutting sites is being transported into the Kurdistan Region by trucks entering through the Sarzeri border crossing.

He said available evidence places the sites inside Turkish territory and maintained that no trees have been cut within the Kurdistan Region during the current period.

According to Tatar, several trucks carrying timber cross into the Kurdistan Region through Sarzeri each day.

He said the movement of the trucks is visible not only to government authorities but also to residents living near the crossing and in surrounding border areas.

The governor's comments follow the circulation of videos and reports on social media that have raised concern about tree cutting and possible damage to the Kurdistan Region's environment.

Tatar said both the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraq's federal government had followed up on the reports in detail after they began circulating.

He acknowledged that trees had been cut in border areas within the Kurdistan Region in previous years, but drew a distinction between those cases and the current footage.

This year, he said, the timber is originating from locations well beyond the immediate border area and deeper inside Türkiye.

Tatar said evidence supporting that account could be found by examining details visible in the circulated footage.

He pointed specifically to the topography of the areas shown, the form of the roads and the license plates of vehicles as indicators that the locations are not inside the Kurdistan Region.

The governor thanked people who had expressed concern about the environment, but urged the public to scrutinize social-media material more carefully before concluding that tree cutting shown in videos was occurring inside Kurdistan Region territory.

He also encouraged journalists and citizens who remain uncertain about the issue to visit the Sarzeri border crossing themselves.

Tatar said they could speak directly with residents living around the crossing or with truck drivers transporting the timber to determine where the wood originates and the distance from which it is being carried.

His remarks therefore amount to a direct rejection of claims that the latest footage documents logging within the Kurdistan Region.

At the same time, Tatar did not deny that tree cutting had taken place in Kurdistan Region border areas in previous years.

His position is that the circumstances behind the current reports are different and that the trees now being transported through Duhok were cut on the Turkish side of the border.

The governor urged citizens not to rely solely on claims circulating online and said the location and movement of the timber could be checked through evidence on the ground.

For authorities in Duhok, the central distinction is therefore one of origin: while timber trucks are entering the Kurdistan Region through Sarzeri, Tatar says the trees themselves are being cut inside Türkiye rather than within Kurdistan Region territory.