Thousands of people were forced to migrate from Şırnak and Hakkari, where the state made it a policy to burn villages and impose village guards in the 1990s. Thousands of people finally settled in the MaXmur Refugee Camp, which was established under the auspices of the United Nations, which is connected to the Iraqi city of Mosul and 100 kilometers from the city of Hewler in the Federated Kurdistan Region. The people of the camp, who migrated due to oppression, could not escape the attacks. With a population of more than 10 thousand, Maxmur became the target of Turkey's attacks. Maxmur, which was besieged after MİT official Osman Köse was killed in Hewlêr on July 7, 2019, has been under an embargo for more than two years. With the embargo, the attacks of both Turkey and ISIS increased. As a result of Turkey's 6 bombardments against Maxmur in recent months, 12 people were killed and 2 were injured. 

 

'IT WAS A VICIOUS ATTACK'

 

Mother Ayten Bulut, whose baby's cradle was destroyed in the targeted house in Turkey's latest airstrike, said, "Our villages were bombed by Turkey 30 years ago, and our camp is bombed today. We will never submit to these attacks. In the 90s, our houses were bombed, but now children's playgrounds are being bombed. Children play in these parks until evening. If the bombardment had taken place in the evening or in the afternoon, there would have been a great massacre. We were all sleeping at the time of the bombing. It is considered to be rude to go to people's houses at that hour for a visit, let alone bombing a playground from air. If I hadn't taken my baby out of the cradle at that hour, he probably wouldn't be alive today. Because as soon as I took my baby in my arms, the windows of the house started raining down on us. It was a very vicious attack."

 

TURKEY HAS NO GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS WITH MAXMUR!

 

Pointing out that Turkey has no geographical ties or relations with Maxmur, Bulut said, “Where does Turkey get this power from? How does it dare?  It seems that they have partners. The government of Kurdistan and Iraq should claim their own lands. After the incident, 3 delegations came here. They came, they saw and they left. They gave no explanation or response. Most importantly, we are not here for our pleasure. That's why no one has the right to wake our children up with bombs today."

 

IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO EVACUATE THE CAMP

 

Stating that Maxmur was targeted because the people living there did not take a step back from the Kurdish freedom struggle, Beşir Taş said, “Wherever a Kurd resists, he is chosen as a target. Without its partners, Turkey would not have attacked so easily. There are those who encourage the enemy. These attackas are planned to liquidate the freedom struggle.  It is not the first time that Turkey has attacked the camp. All attacks are made for the same purpose. Our people were killed in these attacks. These attacks do not weaken us, they strengthen us. If those bombs had hit our backyard, I might not be alive right now. For years we have been fighting against oppression and all kinds of evil. They want to weaken our resistance with these attacks. These attacks are aimed at evacuating Maxmur. But we will not back down. There have been attacks in the past, but no attack has affected our children this much. Of course, we know that these attacks will continue. The Kurdish people should not remain silent in the face of these attacks, if we do not raise our voices, there will be massacres.” 

 

'OUR STRUGGLE WILL CONTINUE'

 

Emphasizing that they will continue their struggle against these attacks, Medine Kara said: "Turkey has been attacking us for years. It bombs the camp with its planes every day. Our children cannot sleep at night because of warplanes. We are not afraid of them. Even if they bomb the camp hundreds of times, they cannot make us take a step back. We will continue our struggle and resist until a single drop of blood remains in our veins to ensure that our children don't say to us, 'You have deprived us of our country."

 

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut