OPEN LETTER Systematic bombing against civilian areas by Turkish forces in Northern Iraq

Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP

Prime Minister

10 Downing Street

SW1A 2AA

Copy to

Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP

Leader of the Opposition

OPEN LETTER

Systematic bombing against civilian areas by Turkish forces in Northern Iraq

Dear Prime Minister,

We write to you on an urgent basis following the news overnight of the aerial attacks on civilian targets in Northern Iraq by Turkish forces.

On February 1st at 10 pm the Turkish Air Force carried out a systematic bombing campaign against civilian areas throughout Iraqi Kurdistan. These areas include the Refugee Camp in Mexmûr (Maxmur), which is a UNHRC registered camp * Geliyê Kersê,  Barê and Çil Mêra near Şengal (Sinjar) in Southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq); as well as the village of Teqil Beqil near Dêrik in Rojava (northern Syria).

Maxmur Camp houses approximately 12,000 Kurdish people displaced from Turkey in the 1990s. The UNHCR completed a registration process in order to build international confidence in the civilian nature of the camp, countering Turkish state attempts to conflate the camp with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Continue reading “OPEN LETTER Systematic bombing against civilian areas by Turkish forces in Northern Iraq”