Dr. Dilgeş Kerkûkî went from Europe to Afrin afer the launch of Turkish state genocide and invasion attacks to offer voluntary medical services to the people, and is now trying to provide medical services to the people in Shehba. Southern Kurdistani Dr. Dilgeş Kerkûkî crossed into Shehba after the Avrin Hospital in Afrin was bombed. He stated that they have run out of most medical supplies and added: “We are here among the people but we can’t answer any of their needs. We just try to give morale.”

Dr. Dilgeş Kerkûkî said the people of Afrin are going through a rough time and they need support: “My first call for the people of Afrin is to the Kurdish people and Kurdistan. My second call is for international powers. It is a duty for us all to support Afrin. This is a national duty. But it is also a humanitarian duty. Because many international aid organizations receive funds for just such occasions.”

“THEY WERE SPEAKING OF THE EVACUATION OF AFRIN, BUT...”

“Our people have very bad circumstances here. People have left their homes, they are seeking shelter on the streets, inside cars, out on the countryside. These people are in the middle of a war, and they need support. People are living under truly harsh conditions,” said Dr. Dilgeş Kerkûkî and continued: “There is no food, no shelter, no clean water nor any formula. We are here among the people, but we can’t answer any of their needs. We just try to give morale. We can’t provide medical services, because there is no medicine, or equipment, or personnel. I want to ask this: Where are all the health organizations? Where is Doctors Without Borders? Where is the UN, where is the WHO? They were speaking of the evacuation of Afrin, but they don’t say a word as to what will happen to these people.”

“I AM HERE AS A KURD WHO LIVED THROUGH ANFAL”

Dr. Dilgeş Kerkûkî said a genocide is being imposed upon the Kurdish people and that these attacks remind him of Anfal: “We are people of these lands too. We’ve been living here for thousands of years. Now we are forced to evacuate our lands. What are you going to do, kill all Kurds with chemicals? Go ahead and do it, it’s not something that hasn’t been done before. I am here trying to serve my people as a Kurd who lived through Anfal.”

“THERE IS NOT EVEN A HOSPITAL LEFT THAT I CAN WORK IN”

Dr. Dilgeş Kerkûkî said she started to work with Heyva Sor a Kurd when there were no more hospitals left he could work in, and added: “I came here as a volunteer doctor, but there aren’t any hospitals I can work in. Our hospital was bombed, everything we had was looted. I can’t give the people medicine, I can’t operate. I can’t do anything in the name of health services. Now I work with Heyva Sor and try to help through there. My hands are tied.”