No Thanks to Afforestation 'Turkey planting thousands in Erbil

No Thanks to Afforestation Turkey plants thousands of seedlings in Erbil — Turkey officials planting trees in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, November 2023. Photo: AA

Omar Sindi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

On November 23rd, 2023, a published article by Amr Salem through (IraqiNews.com) indicated that the Turkish state ‘plants thousands of seedlings in Erbil.’ Reading the article reminded me of a proverb: who would be so unsophisticated as to race to assist a wolf howling for help and suffer the cruelty of its tormentors, while its cuts are still violent with blood of the sheep which has just consumed? The answer to that dishonesty is to re-establish essential honesty.

At the same time, under the cover of war with (Partyia Karkeren Kurdistan or PKK), the Turkish army and their mercenaries have occupied most of the autonomous region of Kurdistan-Iraq, placing a military post on almost every helmet atop of the mountainous region. Their contractors are chopping trees in this pristine area; cutting trees and logging them for use in Turkish factories of industrial processing. The Turkish army is making this mountainous area uninhabitable, what is abnormal, has become normal in this area.

In addition to occupation, the Turkish air force, military drones campaign has continuously been bombing villages, resulting in many innocent people becoming victims to these aerial, indiscriminate bombings, and not allowing people to return to their villages. These aerial campaigns are also continuing in Rojava Kurdistan in Northeast Syria, as well as operations of cutting trees and extracting Olive trees in Afrin Farmland and Orchards. Seedlings of a few thousand trees do not compensate for millions of trees which have been cut, not to mention negative effects it will have on biodiversity of plants and wildlife in that part of Kurdistan.

As I’m writing this essay, there is a COP28-UN Climate Conference 2023 taking place in Dubai in the Persian Gulf area. More than 100 countries, leaders, heads of states, ministers, policymakers, scientists, climatologists, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attended this conference. The aim and purpose are how to get away from fossil fuels and how to reduce gas emissions from the atmosphere, how to decarbonize the atmosphere, how to decelerate rising earth temperature, or which is to prevent rising temperature further or reduce global warming.

According to many scientists and climatologists, ‘deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for around 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions. These greenhouse gas emissions contribute to rising temperatures, changes in patterns of weather and water, and an increased frequency of extreme weather events – which can cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and a host of problems for indigenous people.’

The juxtaposition of Turkey’s public stance on climate change versus their actions should make one question their attendance to the conference. Policymakers in the Dubai Conference for preventing further global warming should inform President Erdogan as an attendee to abide by international order and international law, to halt tree-cutting operations in that part of the world, which is Kurdistan, and stop building dams and constructing hydroelectric projects along the two rivers, Euphrates-Tigris water. This has greatly reduced agricultural land cultivations, natural habitats, and devastated ecological effects on invertebrate and vertebrate species along the river flow line, the degradation reaching as far as Southern marshes in Iraq. Additionally, the Iranian Mullah regime also has many dams built on the Little Zab and Great Zab rivers, which are tributaries to the Tigris river…

Unlikely scenario to take place: If all Iraqi political parties can get their acts together without being pawns to either Turkey or Iran, work as a unified voice, they economically can put pressure on these two rogue states about water supply compromise because Turkey and Iran annually export more than $20 billion of goods to Iraq. Iraq can find other options or routes of purchasing its material needs if she chooses to.

Turkey illegal logging in occupied areas of Iraqi Kurdistan, May 2021. Photo: PM Hividar Ahmed

When it comes to the instability in the Middle East: Iran and Turkey are not proactive; both authoritarian regimes are reactive agents because they pursue aggressive foreign policy agendas of colonial ambitious dominations in the Middle East and beyond. It’s no secret that Turkey and Iran are trying to push the United States and European allies out of the Middle East, so each regime’s geostrategic effort through its proxies. Turkey supports Sunni Islamic movements – many of those movements internationally recognized as terrorist organizations… And Iran supports ‘Shia Crescent.’ However, many of these Shia Crescent groups that Iran supports are also internationally recognized as terrorist organizations. Both rogue states aim to get back onto their skulduggery projects, with their old grandiose agendas in mind, reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire (Shah’s) centuries ago.

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas: Both Iran and Turkey accuse Israel of not respecting international order and law (however, I’m not condoning any civilians or unarmed people to become the victims of armed conflict between warring parties), but both Turkey and Iran’s governments are not acknowledging their own misconduct policies of not adhering to international order and law standards, and both regimes have gross human rights violations and malign behavior.

Turkey, in 2019, invaded Rojava Kurdistan in Northeast Syria; it was widely reported by many media outlets that the Turkish army employed phosphorus gas in that war. ‘UN experts investigate chemical weapons allegation – Hamid’s evacuation comes as UN chemical weapons inspectors are investigating reports that Turkish forces used chemical weapons, possibly munitions loaded with white phosphorus, during their military campaign in Kurdish-dominated northeast Syria…’ – France 24. However, the Turkish state denied that allegation. Despite Turkish denial, it was alleged that many civilians who were hospitalized for gas-burning bodies, including Mohammed Hamid who was severely burned, were transferred to France for medical treatment.

Iran: the Mullah‘s regime in Tehran jails and executes opposition without fair trials, including many young people, which the allegation has been reported by many Human Rights Organizations, Amnesty International. For example, the case of the Kurdish Kolbars: the Kolbar is a worker who rents his back to carry goods on his back crossing the so-called border between Iraq and Iran. These kolbars do these hard jobs to make ends meet on a daily basis. However, these unarmed kolbars have not been accused of any illegal drugs or activities, but the Iranian regime kills them, jails them, many of them have permanently been injured without compensations from the regime. The mullah’ regime in Iran disregards the sanctity of life.

“Turkey plants thousands of seedlings in Erbil” does not compensate for more than four years that the Turkish army along with their mercenaries have been cutting millions of productive trees in the pristine area of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. It’s just like telling someone, I will cultivate a little bit of your house orchard, but I will occupy and destroy your house; No thanks, do neither one, stop cutting trees, stop deforestation and leave!!!

Omar Sindi, a senior writer, analyst and columnist for iKurd.net, Washington, United States.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.