Turkey accused of cutting down millions of trees in Kurdistan Region

An environmental activist revealed that between five and nine million trees had been cut down in the Kurdistan Region over the past decade, amid an escalation in Turkish military operations since 2015, according to a report published by Mesopotamia Agency.

Environmental activist Herkar Sobhi said the damage was concentrated in the areas of Duhok, Zakho, Amadiya and Barwari Bala, particularly near Turkish military bases and villages that had previously been evacuated.

He explained that the logging had affected centuries-old oak trees aged between 100 and 200 years, warning of long-term environmental consequences.

Sobhi noted that the Turkish Embassy in Iraq provided approximately 30,000 saplings to the Kurdistan Regional Government in 2023, at a time when forest losses are estimated to amount to millions of trees, according to activists’ estimates.

Meanwhile, Duhok Governor Ali Tatar denied reports of tree felling, saying that the circulating images had been taken inside Turkish territory.

Environmental activists called on the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to take measures to protect forests. Sobhi also announced a boycott of the climate conference scheduled to take place in Antalya in November, in protest against what he described as environmental destruction. He stressed that documentation of the damage would continue and that evidence would be sent to international organizations.