Erdogan had recently threatened to "cleanse" the place. The attack has killed several civilians

Turkey attacks Kurdish refugee camp in northern Iraq

photo_camera PHOTO/ Press service of the Turkish presidency via AP - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks with Defence Minister Hulusi Akar

Turkey's campaign against the Kurds continues. After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to "cleanse" a refugee camp in northern Iraq, Turkish air forces attacked the site. According to the president, the camp in Iraqi Kurdistan provided refuge for militants of the PKK, an organisation considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara.

Rashad Galali, a Kurdish politician from Makhmur, a town in the Erbil region, confirmed that three civilians had been killed and several wounded. Galali also told AFP that the Turkish attack targeted "a kindergarten near a school". The UN-backed refugee camp was set up in the 1990s to house thousands of displaced Kurds from Turkey. Erdogan called on the international organisation to "clean up" the area, failing which, he said, Turkey would do so "as a UN member state".

The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Green, has expressed her concern about the Turkish attack on Kurdish citizens. Following Erdogan's threats, Thomas-Green recalled that "any attack on civilians in the Makhmur refugee camp would be a violation of international and humanitarian law". However, the Turkish army has previously attacked the site. In November 2019, airstrikes were carried out near the refugee camp, although only material damage was caused.

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In recent months Ankara has intensified its attacks on Kurdish positions in both Iraq and Syria. The attack on the refugee camp followed an ambush on five Peshmerga, Kurdish fighters.

Also, in late May, Ankara ordered bombing of other locations in Iraqi Kurdistan. The attacks hit several Christian villages, destroying homes and churches. As usual, Ankara claims to be fighting PKK "terrorism". Turkey has also increased its bases and checkpoints in northern Iraq, threatening Sinjar, an area inhabited by Yazidis, a community that suffered genocide at the hands of Daesh. In an attempt to counter Kurdish influence in the area, Ankara has decided to reopen its consulate in Mosul, which has been closed for seven years.

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In addition to its military crusade, Turkey is also destroying the ecosystem of Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan. Aiming to choke the region economically, Ankara has been reducing the water of the Euphrates River for some time. Since December, the Erdogan government has reduced the river's flow in nearby countries by 60 per cent.

"The Turkish state is trying to wreak havoc on the region's economy by reducing the water of the Euphrates," explains Mistefa Ito, co-chair of Kobane, a Syrian city inhabited mostly by Kurds. According to Ito, Erdogan is using water as a "weapon" to cause the area to collapse economically. "The constant attacks on northeastern Syria also show that Turkey cannot tolerate the Autonomous Administration project," he added.

The Euphrates Region Lawyers' Union has also denounced Turkey's actions, recalling that the depletion of water from the Euphrates is "an international crime". "In 1949, the International Court of Justice ruled that neighbouring countries have no right to harm each other. The Turkish state is depriving its neighbour Syria of water," the association said. 

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