The Environmental genocide in Kurdistan

Kaywan Ali

The Environmental genocide in Kurdistan, Turkey Cuts Our Forests, Kurdish Authorities Cut Their Conscience

Every Kurd knows well that Turkey sees itself as the enemy of the Kurds. Yet what is more dangerous is not only their denial of Kurdish identity and geography but their ongoing destruction of nature itself.

Recently, Kamaran Othman, a member of CPT International, revealed that Turkey has begun cutting down trees in the Amedi region and transporting them into Turkish territory. What we are witnessing is not an environmental project it is an organized campaign of plunder. When Turkey occupies a place, it erases everything Kurdish, even the trees.

Each tree cut is a wound on the body of Kurdistan. Every truckload of stolen timber is a reminder of how deep Turkish policy runs not just military, but cultural and ecological domination. Today they cut our trees; tomorrow they’ll erase our soil, our language, our identity.

What’s more painful is the silence of Kurdish authorities. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which holds the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and enjoys strong ties with Ankara, remains utterly silent. Why? Is it fear of losing political favors, or the price of their own promises and deals with Turkey?

When Turkey commits environmental crimes inside Kurdistan, and the ruling Kurdish elites look away, this silence itself becomes complicity. What kind of government allows the forests of its homeland to be cut down and carried away by a foreign state without a word?

If this continues, we are not just losing trees. We are losing the green lungs of our nation our living identity. Kurdistan without trees is like a nation without a heart. If today our forests die, tomorrow our souls will follow.