PKK's presence in Amedi has devastated agricultural and tourism sectors: Mayor

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The agricultural and tourism sectors of the Kurdistan Region's Amedi district in Duhok province have been severely affected by the presence of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in the area, said Amedi Mayor Warsin Salman on Monday.

In a statement, Salman said that "197 villagers have been evicted from their villages since 1992 due to the presence of PKK elements and headquarters inside the villages and compounds of Amedi district."

"The people of the villages cannot go to their villages to take care of their orchards and livestock, wasting important economic resources for the district, which is considered one of the vital areas in the economic, agricultural, and tourism fields," he added.

The mayor pointed out that "62 percent of the district is deserted because of the PKK and the armed clashes with Turkey."

Turkey has been intensifying its air and artillery bombardment on border areas within the Kurdistan Region for several months, claiming it is targeting PKK fighters.

In mid-April, Turkey announced the launch of a new operation against the PKK. The operation, codenamed Claw-Lock, followed the Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt air and ground operations Turkey launched in April 2021.

The PKK has been locked in a decades-long conflict against Ankara over Kurdish rights in Turkey that has caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. The group is headquartered in the Kurdistan Region's Qandil Mountain, mostly in rural areas along the Turkish and Iranian borders.

Officials from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have repeatedly called on Turkey and the PKK to take their fight away from areas populated by civilians. Thousands of civilians in the Kurdistan Region have been displaced by the conflict and had their farmlands and villages destroyed.

Others have been injured or even killed in the crossfire and Turkish bombardments of suspected PKK positions.