Kurdistan detains 18 for illegal logging, turns blind eye to turkey

ERBIL,—Authorities have arrested at least 18 people over the past month for illegally cutting down trees in forests in the Kurdistan Region’s Erbil and Sulaimani provinces, officials told Rudaw TV on Tuesday.

The officials warned that offenders could face fines and prison sentences.

Ahmed Barzan Aliko, commissioner of Choman district in Soran, said authorities arrested 14 people across four sub-districts of the Balakayati area in the Soran Independent Administration, northeast of Erbil. Aliko said all tools and equipment used for logging were confiscated.

He said the offenders tried to justify their actions by citing a lack of winter heating fuel or the need to clear their orchards. Aliko said trees up to 50 years old had been cut down.

He added that forest rangers and environmental police patrol the area constantly. When trees are felled, suspects are arrested immediately and handed to the court for punishment under environmental protection laws.

In Sulaimani province, the Forest and Environment Police Directorate said in a statement on Tuesday that four individuals were arrested on charges of cutting down natural trees. The statement said the suspects had cut down 186 oak trees.

Staff Brigadier Hemin Kamarkhan told Rudaw the same day that the trees were between 15 and 30 years old. He said the judiciary will set penalties based on the age and type of tree, as well as the equipment used. Penalties can include fines and imprisonment.

Trees cut down in Sulaimani province, Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Sulaimani Forest and Environmental Police Directorate

Under Article 21 of the Region’s Forestry and Rangelands Law, cutting trees is punishable by a fine of three to five million dinars, about $2,300 to $3,800. In some cases, the offense carries a prison term of up to one year.

Officials with the Kurdistan Green Party have raised alarm over the ongoing destruction of forests across the Kurdistan Region.

They urged immediate action from the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, the President of Iraq, and the Kurdistan Region Parliament.

According to the party, more than 9 million trees have been cut in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2021.

Malko Baziani, head of the Kurdistan Green Party, shared the figures at a press conference in Sulaimani city on October 1, 2026.

He described what he called harsh campaigns by Turkish forces occupying Kurdistan, aimed at destroying nature and clearing trees across the region.

According to reports, Turkey has been logging trees on a large scale in areas of Iraqi Kurdistan for a decade and transporting them to Turkey by truck.

At the federal level, Iraq’s Law for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment, No. 27 of 2009, prohibits cutting down forest trees, or trees in public places, without official permission.

Penalties depend on the scale of the violation and can include fines and imprisonment.

Authorities say the latest arrests show ongoing enforcement against illegal logging, which threatens natural forests and older trees across Iraqi Kurdistan Region.