SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Deputy Speaker of the Iraqi Council of Representatives Bashir Hadad has directed the parliament’s committee of security and defense to investigate deforestation and logging in areas on the border befeeen the Kurdistan Region and Turkey, his office said on Wednesday.
The deputy speaker held talks with the Turkish ambassador to Iraq to raise the issue of deforestation by the Turkish military in the Kurdistan Region, Hadad’s office said in a statement.
“The logging operations and leveling of soil carried out by the Turkish army are within the Turkish territory on the border strip,” Hadad’s office cited the Turkish ambassador as saying.
Two Kurdish lawmakers said this week that the Turkish military had started deforestation and logging in areas on the Kurdistan Region’s border areas.
Lawmaker Hividar Ahmed posted several photos on Facebook showing logs piled in several areas where he said the Turkish army had cut down trees on the border areas.
“In evidence, the Turkish mercenaries have cut down and stolen trees in Sindya region in Zakho district,” said Ahmed.
The Iraqi parliament’s deputy speaker has directed the committee of security and defense and a number of lawmakers to investigate deforestation and logging and find out facts on ground in those areas, according to the statement.
He also ordered them to “inform the Council of Representatives about the developments, which has created great resentment among all Iraqis,” the statement read.
“The continuation of military operations and indiscriminate bombing has caused great damage to civilians and their property, and affect Iraqi sovereignty and the relations between the two neighboring countries,” he said.
“It is necessary to speed up solving the problems by peaceful means and through dialogue,” he added.
Turkish strikes and clashes between the Turkish military and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have forced residents of three villages to evacuate their homes in Duhok province.
The Turkish army has also entered 40 kilometers deep into the Kurdistan Region, according to Kurdish officials, as part of its military campaign against the PKK.
