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Iraq
Civilian killed as PKK-Turkey clashes continue in Kurdistan Region
2019-05-16
[Rudaw] The spike in Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)-The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
festivities continues as a civilian was killed in a suspected Ottoman Turkish Arclight airstrike in Sherwan Mazin, Erbil Governorate while looking for rhubarb. In a separate incident, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was allegedly shot down by the PKK in Amedi district, Dohuk Governorate.

A statement by Major Saadun Hawdyani, spokesperson for Soran district police, revealed that a 60-year-old retired Peshmerga named Kazim Ali Faqo from Pendro village went missing in Sherwan Mazin on Tuesday, May 14; he was later confirmed dead.

Hawdyani's statement warned locals to always avoid areas that have seen festivities between the PKK and the Ottoman Turkish army.

Adil Sherwani, a local of the area, said that Lazim left home looking for rhubarb in the morning. Suspicions were raised when he failed to return in the afternoon.

He said it was the PKK that notified locals that Faqo had died due to a Ottoman Turkish airstrike. Locals then went to retrieve the body, found in Kani Milan, near Bote mountain.

Sherwani bore witness to airstrikes that persisted in the area throughout Tuesday morning and afternoon.

He believes Faqo may have wandered into a Kurdish Regional Government-designated prohibited zone. Suspected to contain PKK fighters, civilians are warned to stay away from these areas.

On the same day, a Ottoman Turkish UAV was felled in the town of Qadshe, in the Sarsang sub-district of Amedi district. Footage shared by Roj News shows wreckage of the aerial vehicle, whose downing was suspected to have been conducted by the PKK, according to Nashwan Hussni, mayor of Sarsang.

The action was followed by airstrikes by Ottoman Turkish forces in the area, "creating panic among the civilians of Qadshe", added Hussni.

Today's incidents form part of a recent increase in PKK-Turkey festivities. On May 5, a PKK attack killed three Ottoman Turkish soldiers at an outpost in Sherwan Mazin bordering Turkey's Hakkari province. In response, Turkey began firing into villages from heavy machine guns on helicopter gunships, leaving villagers terrified for their lives.

After decades of conflict, the PKK and Ottoman Turkish state entered peace talks in 2013. However,
denial ain't just a river in Egypt...
it collapsed for various reasons in 2015, resulting in renewed festivities. With the PKK's headquarters located in the Kurdistan Region’s Qandil mountains, fighting spills over the Ottoman Turkish border and into the Kurdistan Region, with Turkey frequently carrying out ground and air offensives on suspected PKK positions. The fighting has forced most of the residents in the Sherwan Mazin region to abandon their villages and move deeper into the Kurdistan Region to avoid being caught up in the conflict.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil has repeatedly called on the PKK to withdraw from the Kurdistan Region in order to protect the civilian population. The Iraqi government in Baghdad has condemned Ottoman Turkish military incursions across the border, but has so far been unable to compel Ankara to stop.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi is making his first official visit to Turkey today, meeting with Ottoman Turkish President Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey...
. At his weekly presser in Baghdad on Tuesday, he said that "not letting its [Iraq's] soil be used to attack neighboring countries" and "what neighboring countries do on Iraqi soil in consultation with Iraq" would be among the topics of discussion with Erdogan, in reference to PKK-Turkey festivities within Iraqi borders.
Posted by:trailing wife

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