How the Turkish-PKK Conflict in Iraq Endangers Assyrians
Earlier this month, the API published a 47-page report detailing how the ongoing Turkey-PKK conflict impacts Assyrians in Iraq. Here’s what you need to know.
In 2020, the Turkish government intensified its decades-long military campaign targeting the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) along the Iraqi-Turkish border with little regard for the negative impact on civilian populations. Turkish airstrikes targeting suspected PKK positions in today’s Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) often occur in close proximity to areas inhabited by Assyrians, often resulting in significant consequences such as: endangerment of civilian life, forced displacement, traumatization, destruction of property and agricultural lands, and threats to livelihoods.
Ultimately, those set to suffer most in the ongoing hostilities are vulnerable peoples like Assyrians and Yazidis — many of whom have been displaced multiple times, with smaller numbers who now live in temporary accommodation as a result of recent strikes.
The rapid deterioration of security in Iraq after 2003 brought forward the largest exodus of its Assyrian population, and Turkey’s pursuit of the PKK in Iraq has only exacerbated the situation. Four principal areas inhabited by Assyrians in Duhok Governorate are affected by the Turkey-PKK conflict in Iraq: the Barwar region and Sapna Valley in Amediya District; Zakho District; and Nahla Valley in Amediya and Akre Districts.
“Assyrians always end up paying the biggest price for conflicts they want no part in.”
Though Assyrians do not take part in the hostilities, they experience the direct consequences of this conflict. For decades, Assyrians have been caught in the crossfire of the wider Turkey-PKK conflict, including in neighboring Turkey where Assyrian villages in Mardin Province and Şırnak Province were emptied of their indigenous inhabitants as a result of the heightened conflict in the 1980s. Fareed Yacoob, an Assyrian parliamentarian serving in the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament, told the Assyrian Policy Institute: “Assyrians always end up paying the biggest price for conflicts they want no part in.”
The API’s first-of-its-kind report, Caught in the Crossfire: Assyrians and the Turkey-PKK Conflict in Iraq, documents the dates and locations of Turkish airstrikes across 2020 which occurred in close proximity to villages inhabited by Assyrians in Duhok Governorate. It also examines the consistent challenges to the security and livelihoods of Assyrians as a result of the hostilities.
Who is the PKK and why is Turkey targeting them?
The PKK is a Kurdish militant and political organization founded by Kurdish nationalist Abdullah Öcalan in Turkey in 1978. The PKK’s stated objective is to secure the cultural and political rights of Turkey’s nearly 15 million Kurds. To this end, the PKK has been involved in an openly armed conflict with Turkey since 1984, operating throughout the region. Turkey’s military operations targeting the PKK in northern Iraq are conducted under two broad policies: domestic security and counter-terrorism.
The recent interventions by the Turkish military in northern Iraq are part of a decades-long campaign which began in the early 1990s when the exiled PKK set up its main command centers in the mountainous regions of today’s KRI. It has since expanded its footprint in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-administered territory, occupying remote Assyrian villages and squatting in empty homes and other properties owned by Assyrians.
Assyrians have routinely felt the consequences of the conflict between Turkey and the PKK, most notably in southeastern Turkey, where a majority of the state’s Assyrian and Kurdish populations were concentrated prior to the start of the conflict in 1984. Both the Turkish government and the PKK dragged Assyrians into the fold, forcing Assyrians to take part in a conflict, as historian Aryo Makko stated, “…that offered nothing to them but punishment from one party or the other.” Constant bombardment and attacks drove entire villages of Assyrians from southeastern Turkey, particularly in the villages surrounding Tur Abdin, to flee and relocate.
The PKK’s presence in these areas effectively transfers its decades-long conflict with Turkey to northern Iraq. The PKK continues to endanger civilian populations by operating from or near civilian areas, carrying out attacks on Turkey and Turkish military bases in the KRI, thus making them consistent targets for Turkish offensives.
Turkey has consistently pursued the PKK in northern Iraq with little regard for the negative consequences for civilian populations who inhabit the same areas occupied by the militant group. In reference to a July 2020 offensive, Human Rights Watch wrote: “The Turkish military appears not to have taken adequate precautions in this attack to minimize civilian harm, nor to have established whether predictable civilian harm would outweigh the concrete and direct military advance it anticipated from the attack, making the attack unlawfully disproportionate.”
52+ attacks near Assyrian villages in 2020
The Assyrian Policy Institute has tracked reported Turkish military airstrikes in areas inhabited by Assyrians in Duhok Governorate in 2020. The map below depicts the locations of reported strikes which took place in 2020 in close proximity to Assyrian villages. This number includes strikes that were visible and/or audible to inhabitants of Assyrian villages. Our data is drawn from a wide range of sources, including interviews with eyewitnesses, credible open source reports, international and local NGOs, footage and photographs of incidents, and social media pages (i.e. local residents’ groups on Facebook). Claims were cross-referenced and verified wherever possible.
The API has obtained information in regard to 52 events that occurred in 2020, but has concluded that the actual number is likely higher. The data presented in the above map reflects the dates and locations where shelling is believed to have occurred in close proximity to Assyrian villages. It does not reflect that number of individual strikes that took place on a specific date. Due to large variations in the quality of reporting, accurate information regarding the number of strikes in a specified period was difficult to come by. The number and frequency of strikes in a given period varies significantly. One individual from the Barwar region reported 17 strikes in a period of several hours. Another from Nahla Valley reported 11 strikes over a period of two days. In a few cases, a singular airstrike was reported for a particular date. The strikes occur at all times of the day. For a full list of reported strikes, see pages 37–39.
Understanding the harm caused to Assyrians
The Turkey-PKK conflict in northern Iraq has made life unsustainable for civilian populations in targeted areas. When pursuing the PKK in Iraq, Turkey has consistently failed to take adequate precautions to minimize incidental and/or collateral damage to civilians and civilian objects.
To date, Turkey’s campaign has not resulted in civilian deaths among the Assyrian population. Similarly, the API has not been able to confirm that the strikes have resulted in injuries among Assyrians. While Assyrians have not comprised any of the civilian casualties from Turkey’s offensives, witnesses often experience psychological distress. Fears of future attacks cause stress, interfere with daily life, and reignite past traumas. Though many Assyrians have grown accustomed to violent events, exposure to bombings often leads to periods of agitation, as well as anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress disorders. As a result of repeated exposure to explosions from Turkey’s strikes, some Assyrian children in affected villages have exhibited signs of early trauma. The API reviewed and verified video footage from June 2020 which showed Assyrian children in their home screaming and crying in reaction to nearby shelling in the Barwar region.
“Even when no one is killed and there is no extensive damage, you’re still scared,” a man from Nahla Valley told API researchers. “And that’s enough — the anticipation [of future attacks] and the uncertainty is enough to push people to leave.”
“Even when no one is killed and there is no extensive damage, you’re still scared. And that’s enough — the anticipation [of future attacks] and the uncertainty is enough to push people to leave.”
Another serious consequence of the Turkey-PKK conflict is the forced displacement of civilian populations. The API has documented accounts of Assyrians evacuating their homes during attacks and returning when military operations have presumably ceased. At least 26 Assyrian families from the village of Sharanish remain unable to return to their village since June 2020, with the majority now living in temporary accommodation in the cities of Zakho or Duhok. They remain hesitant to return due to increased feelings of insecurity given the magnitude and frequency of recent strikes.
Beyond threats to civilian life, Turkish strikes in northern Iraq have caused irreparable and costly damage to civilian properties and agricultural lands. The API has documented accounts of property destruction to infrastructure, homes, cemeteries, farmlands, and motor vehicles due to shrapnel projectiles. In rare cases, homes or properties have been partially or totally destroyed.
Orchards and other agricultural lands are frequently burned in fires ensuing from the strikes. This particular destruction leads to a negative impact on livelihoods of many Assyrians, who primarily work in the agricultural sector. The destruction of farmland caused by Turkish airstrikes effectively robs Assyrian farmers of their livelihoods and immediately threatens their ability to stay in their homes and villages. Assyrians from the Barwar region estimate that crops valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars have been destroyed in recent years. An orchard farmer in the Barwar region reported that his apple orchard was completely scorched in airstrikes last year, destroying the year’s harvest. Multiple individuals reported they lost livestock as a result of the shelling — a man from Nahla Valley told API researchers he lost three cows in bombings in 2020.
A man from an Assyrian village in Barwar said, “What kind of life is there for Assyrians in their villages when they don’t feel safe? When we are surrounded by hostile actors? When we can’t sell our crops? When you constantly have planes hovering over you in the sky? It’s no life at all.”
Prospects for Change
The Assyrians of northern Iraq have, much like their counterparts in southeastern Turkey, found themselves in the crossfire between two powerful actors embroiled in a conflict in which Assyrians have no part. For years, Assyrian representatives in Iraq — at the federal, regional, provincial, and municipal levels — have repeatedly condemned the airstrikes and continue to appeal to Iraqi and KRG authorities for meaningful intervention. They have also called on Turkish authorities to end military operations in areas with civilian populations, and for PKK forces to withdraw from civilian areas.
Despite mounting criticism of the Turkish government’s military intervention in northern Iraq, Iraqi and KRG authorities have failed to take concrete steps to protect civilian life and minimize material losses to civilians caught in the middle of the Turkey-PKK conflict. Due to the long-term nature of this conflict and the inaction from government authorities, many Assyrians in affected villages have resigned themselves to the idea that change is unlikely. Some have adopted the idea that in time, they will be forced to migrate, as well.
The Turkish government’s campaign targeting suspected PKK positions in northern Iraq has already continued into 2021, with strikes reported near Assyrian villages in recent weeks. Prospects for nonviolent ways forward look bleak. The longer the conflict drags on, the greater the danger to the existential security of these threatened groups.
The international community ought to take into account the unique challenges faced by Assyrians and other minoritized communities, such as the Yazidis, as a result of the violence. As in past years, aid organizations such as the Assyrian Aid Society (AAS) have worked to meet the basic needs of Assyrian families affected by the strikes in the absence of support from the governing authorities, but the humanitarian assistance provided by NGOs cannot work as reliable support in the long-term.
Wherever possible, Iraqi and KRG authorities must implement measures to prevent and minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects. The governing authorities should address the impact of the conflict on Assyrians — including displacement, material damage, and harm to livelihoods — in consultation with community leaders. They should approach this conflict as a priority and one that especially affects Assyrians in the region, both for the sake of future statewide stability and for the sake of this long-suffering community. For API’s full list of recommendations, see pages 35–36.
An Assyrian man from Nahla Valley interviewed for the January 2021 report stated: “Obviously, we are not happy about what is happening, but we have just learned to live with it. We accept the reality of the situation as it is, because we know that prospects for change are low. There is not much we can do. We have two choices: Leave our lands or accept the situation as it is. So, our daily lives continue. We are here to the end.”■
