May 20. (EUROPE PRESS) –
The Iraqi Army has deployed troops around the Majmur camp, in the province of Erbil, in northern Iraq, and has tried to gain access to these facilities controlled by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that house some 12,000 displaced persons. Kurds from Turkey.
The images released by the camp authorities and by media related to the PKK show a large military contingent equipped with armored vehicles located near the camp, an action that has caused unrest and protests among the displaced to prevent access.
“They have come with their tanks and artillery to scare our children. What crime have we committed? Having fled the repression and tyranny of the occupying Turkish state?” a camp resident told the Rojnews portal.
Most of the displaced people from Majmur come from regions affected by the harsh armed conflict between the Turkish Army and the PKK militias. The camp is located in an area disputed between Baghdad and the autonomous authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan and is a frequent target of airstrikes by the Turkish Armed Forces.
Ankara maintains that the PKK uses Majmur as a military training camp, but among the victims of these attacks have been civilians. Türkiye has repeatedly urged Baghdad to intervene and expel the PKK.
The Iraqi government has threatened several times to take the Majmur camp, an area in which it has no effective presence since the Islamic State conquered it in 2014.
