Summary

The team arrived back in Suleimaniya, Iraqi Kurdistan after a six-week absence.  While cleaning up the CPT house and settling in, reports of shelling came from the Iran/Iraq border region and Turkish bombers flying low along the Turkey/Iraq border.  During the next weeks, the team traveled to both areas to document the reports.

3-13 October

Anita David, Peggy Gish and Bob Holmes met in Istanbul and traveled three days across Turkey by tram, ferry, airplane, bus and taxi to the Iraq border.  Passport problems delayed entry by twenty-four hours.  Chih Chun Yuan attempted to enter Iraq from Iran but also encountered passport problems.  She had to fly from Iran to Bahrain, then to Jordan, and then to Iraq, which took several days.

14-20 October

The team traveled to Merkegia, an Assyrian Christian village on the Iraq/Turkey border.  The village was mostly empty.  Orchard owners had hired workers to pick the apple-laden trees, but for three days, Turkish planes had been flying low over the village and the workers fled, fearing bombs.  The mukhtar (village leader) spoke of the Turkish Parliament's decision on 6 October to renew the military bombing attacks on the PKK rebels in the border mountains of Iraq, which will continue to cause a massive displacement of civilian villagers.  The mukhtar asked CPT to raise the voice of the villagers internationally and help build pressure on Turkey to end the attacks.

The team learned of a Turkish refugee peace march to the Iraq/Turkey border crossing from Iraq into Turkey on 19 October 2009.  They had met some of the marchers in the summer.

21-31 October

The team sent out a news release updating the story of the Peace March.  Thirty-four people crossed into Turkey, where the Turkish authorities interrogated and released them pending possible future prosecution.  They called for a negotiated end to Turkish military attacks along the border, the recognition of Kurdish identity in Turkey and full democratic rights for Kurds. Thousands demonstrated in Turkish cities to support the Peace March.

Meeting with sub-mayor of Sangasar, the team learned about the damage sustained by villages in the area near the Iranian border during the 13 October shelling by the Iranian military.  Approximately 400 families had been staying in these villages, a peak number because it was harvest time.  A shepherd from the village of Sharosh suffered the loss of ninety-two goats during the attack.  Fearing more attacks, the people fled.  The one remaining school in that area was closed.  The sub-mayor gave the team cell phone-video documentation of the slaughtered goats, damaged houses and ruined beehives.

The team visited the IDP camp near Zharawa.  Five to eight families are currently staying at the camp.  Most families have gone back to their villages for the harvest.  They were alarmed on 20 October when Turkish surveillance planes flew over the villages.  Since the Turkish and Iranian militaries collaborate, they are afraid shelling attacks from Iran will soon start up again.  A leader of the camp believes that many families will return to the IDP camp for the winter or even sooner if the bombing begins again.  The camp is not winterized and currently lacks fuel for the electric generator.

The team traveled to Kani Spi and met with the mukhtar, his family, and neighbours.  They spoke of the intense shelling from Iran on 23-24 August 2009, which caused everyone to flee with their flocks.  The shelling continued for a week.  The mukhtar showed the team remnants of at least thirteen rockets and gave them cell phone-video documentation of the shelling.  Villagers have been promised compensation for losses by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) but have not received anything.

Back in Suleimaniya, the team researched ways of advocating for the displaced villagers on both within the KRG for compensation and adequate housing and on an international level for a negotiated end to the border attacks.