15 days ago, the Turkish army attempted to invade Geliye Reş, Heci Beg River, Siro Mountain and its surroundings and the vicinity of Bermize, Çinarok, Eşime Nu, Eşime Kewn and Kevnegund.

FIRED ON SHEPHERDS

The Turkish army continue works with construction machines on the Siro Mountain and the higher parts of the Bermize village to settle in, and they have started to open fire on shepherds who get close to the area they are settled in.

A shepherd from Çınarok village who wishes to remain anonymous stated that he was fired on by soldiers two days ago as he was taking his herd to the plains. The shepherd spoke to the ANF and said folks can’t go up to the pastures anymore for fear of soldiers shooting on them, and continued:

“We are local to these villages and these lands. We were born and raised here, we have always taken our herds to these areas. The other day, when we wanted to take our herds to the Siro Mountain and the Bermize village where we used to go day or night and the soldiers who settled there a couple days ago opened fire on us. They said something in Turkish, but we don’t understand the language. Then they told the village guards they had with them in Kurdish: ‘These are restricted areas, don’t bring your animals here. This time it was warning shots but the next time we will think you are here for other reasons and we will shoot.’”

The shepherds say they can’t accept not being able to take their animals to the lands of their forefathers.

FORESTS CUT DOWN

The Turkish army forces have cut down trees in some 5 decares of land near the Heci Beg River, Bermize village and Siro Mountain where they entered to invade. Villagers protest the invasion of their lands and forests, and now their trees being cut down: “They came and invaded our fields, forests, lands. If that wasn’t enough, they now entered our dear forests, the forests very dear to us that we don’t even cut down to use as fuel, they entered with chainsaws and they are killing the trees. They sell the wood they get from cutting down our forests in Rubarok, Şemzinan and other districts. They force the village guards they brought with them to do it.”

“KDP IS GIVING AWAY OUR LANDS”

A villager from the Çınarok village said they are in the Bradost area and that KDP wants to give the area away to Turkey deliberately because of the historic conflict the Bradosts have with the KDP: “The Bradosts are known for their patriotism. They are a clan who have opened their arms to all who fight for Kurds. But they have also always stood against those who don’t work for Kurds. There are serious conflicts due to the KDP’s plans towards the clans. Now due to these conflicts the KDP wants to abandon our lands to Turkey. We want them to know that we will not leave our lands to those who make such negotiations.”

FORCING PEOPLE INTO SPYING

Some families have left the village in protest as Turkey attempts to invade the area while some in the village have allegedly started collaborating with Turkey and are spying in their name. A Bermize villager said they know the people who work with Turkey and they know their names: “We know them and we know who they are. We hope they understand their mistake and stop serving the enemy. If they don’t, we will take on a different approach. Nobody from our villages has served the enemy up to now and nobody will in the future. We don’t know if these individuals are acting on their own or on orders from others. But we want them to stop what they’re doing as soon as possible.”