IRAQ: Missing Iraqis killed by Turkish shelling in Nohadra (Dohuk)

NOHADRA (DOHUK), Iraq – After gone missing for 10 days, the fate of three citizens from Derluk district of Nohadra (Dohuk) Province in the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI) became known; they died from Turkish artillery shelling, Rudaw reports.

The three victims are between 55 and 65 years-old and residents of Derluk district. The recovery team that went to retrieve the bodies of the missing persons contacted local officials in Nohadra and reported they died from Turkish shelling.

The Turkish army entered northern Iraq in June and set up military posts in a military operation in what it calls the war against terrorists, referring to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK denies that it is a terrorist organization and says it is fighting the ultra-nationalist and denialist Turkish policies to obtain full rights as a people for Kurds and other peoples in Turkey.

Turkey held talks between 2012-2015 with the PKK to come to a peace and reconciliation. The talks however, failed after which the AKP government aligned with the MHP and cracked down on the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party. In June of this year, Turkey started its military campaign in northern Iraq to which the three Iraqi citizens have fallen victim (see below video by Rudaw).

In related news, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Turkish Erdoğan who leads a government with the ultra-Turkish nationalist party MHP, delivered a speech during the celebration in Baku of the Azerbaijani military victory in Artsakh over Armenia. Erdogan’s speech included remarks that the northwester regions of the Islamic Republic of Iran are in fact part of Azerbaijan. This elicited strong criticism from the Iranian Mullah regime fearing it might provoke separatism among the Iranian Azeri minority (~20% of Iran’s population of 80 million).

The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Turkish Ambassador over Erdogan’s intrusive and unacceptable statements, calling for an immediate explanation. Turkey, in return, summoned Iran’s Ambassador to Ankara.

İran'da rejime yakın "Risalet" gazetesi Azerbaycan'da okuduğu bir şiir yüzünden Erdoğan'a ilk sayfasından şu uyarı dolu Türkçe başlıklı mesajı vermiş bugün: "Sana 15 Temmuz'da verdiğimiz desteği hatırla!"

Milli ve yerli Erdoğan İran'dan 15 Temmuz'da nasıl bir destek almış acaba? pic.twitter.com/4KojTT4gdN

— Ömer Murat (@omermurat_) December 12, 2020