Iraq | June 26, 2024
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Turkey’s offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraqi Kurdistan has intensified, according to an article by AsiaNews published on 26 June 2024. So far in 2024, Turkish forces have conducted 833 attacks and bombardments, according to human rights group Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT), resulting in civilian casualties and widespread displacement. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government considers the PKK a terrorist organization and has expanded military checkpoints and aerial assaults to curb its activities. On 26 June 2024, CPT reported that Turkish armed forces "started a new military offensive in Iraqi Kurdistan with up to 300 military tanks”. According to a Kurdish journalist quoted by AsiaNews, these movements are “a sign of a much larger war to come”. Many analysts believe that Sulaymaniyah International Airport, allegedly used by the PKK as a logistics hub, is likely to become a key target for future Turkish airstrikes.
Over the weekend of 29 - 30 June 2024, Turkish bombings and raids in the Dohuk governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan targeted Christian villages, seriously damaging two churches and several homes, and causing widespread fires, according to an article by AsiaNews published on 2 July 2024. These attacks have further heightened fears of military escalation in the area.
World Watch Research (WWR) analyst Henriette Kats comments: “Civilians located close to Iraqi Kurdistan’s border with Turkey and Iran face loss of homes, livelihoods and community structures due to the intensified military operations. This area includes many Assyrian-Chaldean Christian villages that are not associated with Kurdish militants. Local church leaders are deeply concerned and have indicated to WWR that Christians in the region cannot cope with a new crisis after previous forced displacement through the Islamic State group invasion and more recently through attacks by Turkey. They therefore call on the international community to do everything in its power to prevent further escalation.”
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