NEW DELHI: Two recent reports have highlighted civilian casualties caused by the Turkish military’s airstrikes in Kurdistan on August 1. The first report by Amnesty International concludes that the airstrikes killed eight residents and injured at least eight others - including a child, in an attack on the village of Zergele in the Kandil mountains. The second report by Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) refers to the attack as a “civilian massacre” and maintains that the village of Zergele is a residential village and has never been a military base.

Relevant portions of the two reports are reproduced below.

Amnesty International

The airstrikes on 1 August were part of a military campaign launched by Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) but according to information gathered by Amnesty International these residents were not affiliated with the PKK. The organization is calling on the Turkish government to launch an independent, impartial and effective investigation into the airstrikes and to publicly release the findings of their investigation.

“The recent attacks in Kandil maimed, killed, and displaced residents, destroying homes and terrifying locals in an area where no military targets appeared to be present,” said Lama Fakih, Senior Crisis Advisor at Amnesty International who visited the area.

“The evidence of these casualties raises serious concerns about the lawfulness of the attack in Kandil, and underscores the need for any investigation into the airstrikes to be independent, impartial and to ensure accountability and reparations for victims and their families.”

The recent attacks in Kandil maimed, killed, and displaced residents, destroying homes and terrifying locals in an area where no military targets appeared to be present Lama Fakih, Senior Crisis Advisor, Amnesty International

Whether or not the clashes between the PKK and the Turkish government amount to a non-international armed conflict, under both the laws of war and international human rights law the killing of residents not affiliated with the PKK is unlawful.

The Turkish authorities had initially claimed the strikes were targeting PKK members at a “terrorist camp”. They have since announced plans to conduct a joint investigation into the strikes with the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG).

Evidence gathered during a visit by Amnesty International to the village of Zergele three days after the airstrikes suggests all those killed and injured in the attack were not affiliated with the PKK. Amnesty International spoke to several eyewitnesses, including two doctors who rescued the wounded and three residents who consistently said that none of the dead or injured were PKK fighters and that there were no PKK fighters in the area. Those killed included a local mayor and two municipality workers.

All the witnesses who were present at the time of the attack or arrived there shortly afterwards said that the victims wore civilian clothes and that they saw no weapons on the scene. Amnesty International reviewed 10 photographs and one video from the scene that were consistent with these witness statements.

Aftermath of airstrike in the village of Zergele, in the Kandil Mountains in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 1 August 2015

Dr. Medya, a doctor and member of the PKK, who runs a health clinic for residents, in a nearby village, described what she saw when she arrived on the scene to Amnesty International:

I saw a lot of people crying about their relatives. One woman fell down…she had hypertension. I saw someone with a wound in the head. I saw a person… [his organs had spilled] outside, [he was ]wounded, and in shock position…He [Najeeb Aziz] died. He had lost too much blood. Another one was completely burnt. Some people, how can I say, were shocked and crying…several houses completely destroyed…another clinic which is about 400 metres away, even there you could see the shells, you could see the destroyed windows, and in the mosque too.”

Dr. Medya and Dr. Derbass Salih Mohamed Ameen, an assistant doctor in the Zergele Health Center, had both travelled to the strike site to rescue the wounded in the early morning hours of 1 August.

Witnesses also said many relatives and first responders who came to assist the wounded in the first airstrike were killed and injured in subsequent attacks.

Among them was Salih Mohamed Ameen, the mayor of Bokriskan, a nearby village, who was killed along with his sister, Heybet Mohamed Ameen, after he came to aid the wounded.

Residents also said some of those killed and injured included KRG Peshmerga fighters. These fighters are not involved in the clashes between the PKK and the Turkish government but rather are fighting against the group that calls itself Islamic State (IS) in other parts of the country and would be considered civilians under international humanitarian law in the context of a Turkey-PKK conflict.

Amnesty International also found no checkpoints, police stations, or fixed military positions in the village of Zergele, confirming accounts from residents who said no PKK fighters were positioned or residing in the villages. The nearest fixed checkpoints were approximately 25 kilometres and 3-5 kilometres by land respectively, on either side of the village.

A media spokesperson authorized to speak on behalf of the PKK told Amnesty International that in order to ensure civilian protection PKK fighters did not mix with the residents and that as a general practice they maintained positions at least 5 kilometers away from them.

On 4 August Amnesty International observed a few PKK fighters in the village. However, local residents and the PKK spokesman said they had arrived in the area after the strike to maintain security.

“The apparent absence of a military target within the vicinity of the airstrikes suggests that these strikes are unlawful whether or not there is an armed conflict between the Turkish authorities and the PKK. The Turkish government has displayed a flagrant disregard for the lives of local residents and failed to take necessary precautions to minimize harm to them, or to discriminate between them and PKK fighters,” said Lama Fakih.

“These attacks should be investigated, and Turkish authorities should ensure accountability and redress in the event of wrongdoing."

The Turkish government has displayed a flagrant disregard for the lives of local residents and failed to take necessary precautions to minimize harm to them, or to discriminate between them and PKK fighters Lama Fakih

Residents killed and injured in events of 1 August

The interviewees told Amnesty International that the airstrikes on Zergele took place between 3am-5am in the early morning hours of 1 August killing eight people and wounding at least eight others. Witness accounts about the number of bombings that took place varied but they recalled up to 11 distinct explosions in the area that morning.

Peoples’ Democratic Party Investigation Committee Report

Visit to the village of Zergele and findings

The village of Zergelê where we arrived on August 5th -located in the valley of Qandil region where a main highway and two rivers cut through – has been a civilian settlement for decades. Both during our interactions at the village of Zergelê and with regional representatives, many have expressed their dismay at the misinterpretation of this village as a military base. Our committee has also confirmed that the village of Zergelê is a residential area of 37 units including houses, a mosque, a school, local administration buildings, and tens of stables. The residential nature of this village has been documented by the numerous domestic and international news outlets and press agencies during our visit as well.

The human tragedy after the attack

As a result of the attack on the morning of August 1st, 6 houses were destroyed and all the residential units in the village, including the mosque and the school, were damaged at the village of Zergelê. The entire village population left their homes in a fright. The villagers of Bukriskan, Livjan, Enzi and Pirdesali have also left their villages as they fear potential airstrikes since combat air patrols still continue in the region. Over a thousand children, elderly, women and young people still fear the possibility of attacks to come.

The headmen of the village of Bukristan lost his life during the third airstrike trying to rescue his sister who was visiting Zergele for the night.

Necip Abdullah, who lost his life during the attack, has left behind three children of ages sixteen, twelve and only four. Mehri Aziz Veli has expressed that this is the third time his home has been destroyed by the airstrikes of Turkey and Iran and that during this raid he also lost his wife.

Karox Muhammed Emin (26), who lost his life during the attack, has left his wife behind with their three children, Sina (7), Sibel (5) and Senem who is only three months old.

Although the Qandil region has been portrayed to Turkish public opinion, as a settlement only comprised of a PKK base, it actually is home to almost a hundred civilian settlements within many villages. The population in the region peaks during summer as this is the time of the year favorable to agriculture.

Those who have survived the attack believe that this set of airstrikes were orchestrated deliberately to rid off the Qandil region of its civilian population in the villages.

Most of the sources, whom we have contacted, confirm the existence of PKK bases in the Qandil region. However, they have also expressed that no guerillas take shelter in the villages and that their bases are far from civilian settlements. Furthermore, other sources have confirmed that it is against the guerilla’s codes to take shelter from or make contact with civilians. Consequently, the massacre of Zergelê is defined as an attack aimed that evacuating the civilians out of their villages in the Qandil region.

Findings

Our committee has come to the following conclusions as a result of its interviews with the injured at the hospitals, villagers of Zergelê and local and regional government officials and representatives:

1. It has been confirmed that the bombarded village of Zergelê -contrary to the claims of Ankara of it being a PKK base- is a civilian settlement. Those who lost their lives due to the airstrikes were unarmed civilians.

2. Qandil is a vast region of approximately a hundred villages and many fields. All the local sources confirm that there are no and have never been any PKK bases within or near these civilian settlements.

3. The statement released by Turkish authorities claiming that the Kurdish Regional Government had been informed about the airstrikes does not reflect the truth. In fact, the Kurdish Regional Government was informed only after the attack.

4. The statement released by Ankara indicating that the Kurdish Regional Government authorities approve of the military operations in the region does not reflect the truth. On the contrary, the public officials we have met have openly expressed their concerns with and dismay at the airstrikes and its consequences.

5. The airstrikes and its concurrent consequences are not only against human rights but also clearly breach moral, humane codes. A civilian massacre has been orchestrated by crossing the borders of another country by 150 km and bombarding a village.

6. Although the responsibility of this attack lies with the Turkish government, the countries who have supplied Turkey with the necessary arms are not exempt from this responsibility either.

7. The airstrikes targeting the region has not only caused a civilian massacre but also caused massive forest fires devastating the fauna of the region and causing environmental destruction.

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