Beekeeping in the provinces of the Kurdish region, especially in the city of Hakkari, has been deeply affacted by the war in North Kurdistan and in particular by the used of chemical weapons by the Turkish armi. Millions of bees have died and no compensation nor aid has been provided in the past two years. 

There are hundreds of wild animals and thousands of plants in the mountains and valleys of Hakkari, Van, Ağrı, Bitlis and other areas.

Beekeeping is one of the resource of the people in North Kurdistan, which has a rich nature. In addition to the people of the region, hundreds of beekeepers from Ordu, Gümüşhane, Rize and other Turkish cities come to Kurdistan to obtain different and special variety of honey in Hakkari, Bitlis and Van where thousands of plant species are found.

However, beekeeping has become impossible for the last two years. Millions of honey bees have been killed in many North Kurdistan regions, particularly in Hakkari. 

A citizen of the Semdinli district of Hakkari, who has been a beekeeper for many years, told ANF that thousands of honey bees have died and as a result, he has not been able to earn an income for nearly two years.

The beekeeper said: "Semdinli honey, was in great demand, but in the last two years our bees suddenly began to die. We've suffered tremendous damage. We have been able to produce honey for two years, because of the death of our bees. We attribute the reason for the death of our bees to the bombs used in the mountains. There can be no other explanation for the sudden death of our bees."