The Kurdistan Green Party made a statement in its Sulaymaniyah Office on the occasion of June 5, World Environment Day.

Speaking here, the party’s spokesperson Dana Necmedin stated that the Turkish state’s attacks have resulted in huge environmental destruction in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

Necmedin stated that Turkey has destroyed nearly three million trees in the Behdinan and Duhok regions, noting that a complaint has been filed with the Iraqi Court and the United Nations about this “brutal and inhuman destruction.”

He added that the party was working on a project to plant one million trees in Sulaymaniyah and surrounding region.

The Kurdistan Green Party called on the local population to provide assistance for the protection of Kurdistan’s nature and environment.

In summer, forests in Kurdistan are systematically destroyed. The Turkish government is responsible for this, as it is also responsible for arson and clearing beyond the state borders in southern Kurdistan and Rojava (northern Syria). In northeastern Syria, cultivated fields in particular are deliberately set on fire. In northern Iraq, the Turkish army acts as an occupying force, clearing large areas of forest and marketing them in Turkey last year. In other areas, slash-and-burn operations were carried out to deprive the guerrillas of shelter in the bare areas. Forests also frequently catch fire as a result of air strikes.