SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Deputy Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament Hemn Hawrami on Tuesday called for compensation for people who are suffered from the conflict between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the Kurdistan Region’s border.
Hawrami met with Turkish Consul General in Erbil Hakan Karacay in the Kurdistan Parliament on Tuesday to discuss several issues, including clashes between Turkey and the PKK in the Kurdistan Region.
The deputy speaker expressed “his grave concern about the harm to the lives and livelihoods of the villagers in the sub-districts of Darkar, Bativa and Kani Mase, caused by the military conflict between Turkey and the PKK,” his office said in a statement.
Hawrami also stressed that the Kurdistan Region was against war and violence by any party, the statement read.
He also called for “the protection of properties of citizens and nature of the area, for compensation for those who suffered damages and destruction, and for an end to the harm to the lives and livelihoods of villagers.”
The meeting came after people’s reaction to footage showing logs piled in several areas where the Turkish military has started deforestation on the Region’s border.
In a joint statement, the Iraqi and Kurdish ministries of agriculture called on Turkey to stop deforestation, and called on the international community to help both governments in Baghdad and Erbil solve the issue.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has requested Turkey to put an end to deforestation in the Region, spokesperson Jotiar Adil said on Monday.
“The KRG is concerned and expresses dissatisfaction about deforestation and damaging the nature of the Kurdistan Region, and it has formally requested Turkey to put an end to deforestation on the border areas, which is not acceptable,” Adil said in a statement.
He also called on Turkey and the PKK to “respect sovereignty of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and no longer cause suffering, exile and destruction to residents of those areas.”
Turkish strikes and clashes between the Turkish military and the 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.
