While the Turkish military operation seeking to invade the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) has continued since April 17, Turkish attacks on civilian settlements are claiming more lives every day.

An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) of the Turkish state bombed the building of the People’s Council and a stationery in the market place in the Sinune town of Shengal (Sinjar) on June 15. The attack killed 12-year-old Salih Xidir Naso and injured 7 other people, including journalist Salih Berces, who works for the Yazidi station Çira TV. Political activist Îbrahîm Derwêş Evdî, who was seriously injured as a result of the attack, lost his life on June 23 in a hospital in Mosul where he had been receiving treatment.

On June 17, four people were killed and another person injured in a drone attack on a car near the village of Berlut in the north of the Kelar town near Sulaymaniyah city. The victims included the deputy chairman of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) Executive Council, Ferhat Shibli.

The Shengal Committee of Martyrs’ Families released a statement remembering the martyrs of Turkish attacks in Sinune and Kelar and promising to keep the struggle going.

Pointing to the 9 October 2020 agreement between South Kurdistan’s ruling party KDP and Iraq’s al-Kadhimi government regarding the future of Shengal, the statement said, “The enemies of the Yazidi society and freedom are carrying out uninterrupted attacks to smash Leader Apo’s (Abdullah Öcalan) philosophy for a free life. In order to realize this goal, they are carrying out violent attacks from the mountains to the civilian settlements of Kurdistan, targeting women, children and society as a whole. Yet, the plans of the Turkish state have been frustrated thanks to the resistance of freedom guerrillas.”

Pointing to the latest wave of deadly Turkish attacks in Maxmur, Shengal, Chamchamal and Shengal as a result of its defeat in guerrilla areas, the Committee of Martyrs’ Families condemned the silence against the never-ending attacks in Kurdistan territory.

Paying tribute to the victims of the latest Turkish attacks, the Committee of Martyrs’ Families offered their condolences to the Kurdish people and reiterated their promise to keep the struggle going.