Catastrophic repercussions ... 35% of forests of Başûr Kurdistan burned by Turkey

Sardar Qaradagh, a member of the Nature Organization in Kurdistan, said that Turkey had burned more than 1,300,000 dunums of forests in Southern Kurdistan ( Kurdish region in Iraq) that is more than 35% of the total forests, stressing that Turkey bombed 11 times these mountainous areas with internationally prohibited chemical weapons.

6 September, 2021 00:31

Newsdesk - Zana Deniz

Occupied Turkey is not only attacking people, but targeting nature in Kurdistan, and over the past years it has destroyed large areas in its war against the villagers living along the mountains and valleys under the pretext of fighting the PKK.

A member of Nature Organization in Kurdistan Sardar Qaradagh told our agency that the Turkish state is continuing to target innocent civilians and nature and seeks to destroy the nature of Başûr Kurdistan.

He noted that according to reports, the Turkish state has used internationally prohibited chemical weapons 11 times, and said: "These weapons do not only target humans and the Guerrillas, they destroy the wildlife."

He pointed out that since 2015 and until the end of 2019, Turkish planes bombed Başûr Kurdistan more than 698 times, as well as 555 times with artillery and heavy weapons. I n 2020 alone, they bombed 1,300 times with aircraft, artillery and heavy weapons.

And about the impact of the Turkish bombing on nature, he that it leads to the destruction and contamination of the soil, burning of forests, polluting water, springs and air, and ending wildlife as well, and he said: “The Turkish attacks led to an increase in the rate of migration from the countryside to the city. Everyone who lived in those villages was dependent on agricultural resources.

He noted that in the past few days, Turkey bombed agricultural lands in the Penjwin area of Başûr Kurdistan, "This bombing led to the burning of large areas of agricultural land and the burning of crops."

Qaradagh indicated that in Southern Kurdistan, two million and 500 thousand dunums of natural forests, and 30,000 dunams of industrial forests, in the past ten years, Turkey has burned more than one million and 300 thousand dunums of these forests, meaning more than 35% of the forests of Başûr Kurdistan. And he stated: "Bashur's government and members of Parliament are silent until this moment in the face of all these crimes."

Regarding the suspicious silence of the Iraqi government, Qaradagh said that Iraq is sovereign and has the right to file a lawsuit against the Turkish state to hold it accountable for its crimes.

Qaradagh appealed to the Kurds in the four parts of Kurdistan and all organizations concerned with protecting the environment not to stand silent in the face of the crimes of the Turkish state, and called on the Kurdish people to strive to protect the environment and stop all kinds of violations targeting the trees, water and soil of Kurdistan.

(A)

ANHA