Kurdistan forests were first set on fire in 1925 by the state during the Sheik Said rebellion and continued during the Dersim Massacre and the Eastern Reform Law. 

In the 90s, state forces, which have imposed a forced immigration policy, deliberately set on fire wooded areas to protect military bases and outposts.

Almost every year in Kurdistan, forests are systematically burned. This summer it happened in Lice, Dara Hênê, Cudi, Gabar, Herekol, Besta and Dersim, where forests were set on fire by state forces reducing thousands of hectares to ash. 

Thousands of species living in the forest were destroyed. 

HDP Amed deputy Dersim Dağ spoke to ANF about the issue of forest fires in Kurdistan.

"The forest fires that have started in Lice since the beginning of summer have continued in other regions as well”, said Dağ, adding that Turkish soldiers systematically set on fire the forests of Kurdistan using excuses such as 'military operation' and 'forbidden zone'.

The State has been implementing the same policies throughout history

Twenty days ago in the Alibogazi area of ​​Hozat, as result of the bombing by the state forces, hectares of lands were on fire and were only extinguished by the efforts of preoccupied citizens. 

“Unfortunately, a few days ago, another part of Dersim was set on fire by state forces and the fire is still ongoing”, she said.

A call to defenders of nature

Recalling that the Turkish state continued to be hostile to the nature of Kurdistan and to Kurds, the HDP Amed deputy said: "The state wanted to destroy Dersim in 1938 and wanted to force people to leave those lands. Now it is doing the same, trying to destroy the nature and culture of Dersim. They are not only enemies of our language and culture, they are also enemies of our nature”.

The state has to give up this hostile policy, said Dağ. “We will struggle against assimilation and genocide policies until the very end. We will not let them destroy our nature and our culture. Those who love nature and think of themselves as nature defenders should not remain silent about the fires in Dersim and Kurdistan”.

Noting that the Turkish state is still carrying on the same fascist policy it had in the 1990s, Dağ said: "In the 1990s, the state forced people to leave their homes by literally burning them out of their villages. They burned down houses and animals”. 

The state, insisted the Amed deputy, “wants to empty Kurdistan and it is doing it through the same policy. The state's practices in the 90's are the same in 2018. The state fascism towards Kurds and Kurdistan nature is on the increase. And we will continue to fight against this fascism”.