What Happened in Zaho/Dohuk?

It is Shakespeare's famous tirade that is reflected in the people in the street, it is impossible to forget: "To be or not to be, that is the question (To be or not to be). Contrary to popular belief, this beautiful sentence is the introductory sentence of the famous tirade that Hamlet uttered, not while staring at the skull for a long time, but while he was joking with himself. While Hamlet is facing Ophelia, the skull scene is just before Ophelia's funeral and there are only 2 acts between them. After Hamlet looked at the skull and made the appearance of "alas poor Yorick" (unfortunately, poor Yorick!) in the game, he exploded the famous rosewood song "to be or not to be". It still continues to explode. That look, that moment, the sound of life, in an instant, evolves from "To be or not to be" to "To die or not to die". Yes Dear Readers, “That is the question”, is it to endure the pains of life or to leave it all? Or-or I don't know, "Leave everything and run away?"

Well? The point is this: It is because of this uncertainty that we prefer the pain of the world we know rather than hoping for happiness in this world... Isn't this the simple truth that everyone knows but can't put in a way? Why am I saying all this, Dear Readers, because of an unexplained action in the town of Zaho in the city of Dohuk in Northern Iraq, which prompted us to think similarly. I'm putting aside such artistic depth.

In other words, is the "Zaho/Dohuk Incident" an Unknown Perpetrator or an Unknown Perpetrator? The incident in which 9 people, including 2 children and 3 women, lost their lives and 23 people were injured in the attack on a stream on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, in the Zaho district of Dohuk province of Iraq. (1)

Immediately afterwards, the protesters gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad and the Turkish Consulate General in Mosul, beyond condemning the attack in northern Iraq, they increased the violence of their demonstration by openly targeting Turkey, burning Turkish flags. Especially in the city of Karbala, not only was Turkey protested, but the demonstrators not only set fire to the Turkish flag, but also shouted in the clouds of anger that Turkish companies would be shut down. The foci that continue to throw wood into the fire from within Turkey are primarily responsible for not stopping the events. From this sentence, it is seen that the following statements are included in the statement made by the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP):

"Bombing civilian settlements is a crime against humanity and war. Turkey is also a direct party to international conventions that prohibit it. The government is politically and legally responsible for this massacre, which will go down in history as the second Roboski massacre. This massacre also means an attack on another country's sovereignty. ”

“The First Roboski Incident” I think you remember that sad event that took place in Uludere on 29 December 2011, which is now clearly understood to have been committed by FETO. By the way, opposite the place called Uludere is PeKaKa's "Haftanin" camp.

In the Trench incidents, it was seen that PeKaKa always used children in the front row, and the “Syrian PeKaKası” used thousands of children kidnapped by PeKaKa/KaCeKa and raised in the camps for their own dirty purposes. The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines those under the age of 18 as children. In the Human Trafficking Report published by the USA in June 2016, it was noted that the PYD/YPG, the Syrian branch of the terrorist organization PeKaKa, continues to recruit and use boys and girls, including children under the age of 15, to the organization and take them to training camps.

In the Human Trafficking Report published by the USA in July 2015, it was stated that children participated in PeKaKa, which Turkey and the USA consider a terrorist organization; It was also stated that children of Kurdish origin were abducted or forced to join PeKaKa. (2)

Let's not forget these, dear readers. After all this, I have to say that Zaho/Dohuk is a provocation aimed directly at Turkey. It is a service business organized behind closed doors, injected with space and time. It is an indirect attitude that cleverly uses the force, time and space elements of the strategy. Let's underline an important point: "For a region to be recognized as a war zone in international law, it is not necessary for two states to be at war there." Yes, the region is literally a war zone. On the other hand, what is the command to the crackling voices coming out of the country in this case? First of all, it is the statement of the Diyarbakır Bar Association accusing the Turkish Armed Forces. The following scandalous post made by the Diyarbakır Bar Association on his social media account clearly shows that he has undertaken to play the role given to him, and has no close connection with his identity as a citizen of the Republic of Turkey:

"With the bombardment of the TAF in the Zaho district of the Kurdistan Federal District, civilians, including children, lost their lives. As in Roboski, when it comes to Kurds, humanitarian law becomes worthless. We offer our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and to Kurdistan."(3) He deeply injured almost everyone who is connected to the Republic of Turkey with citizenship bonds, especially the Republic of Turkey, and deeply felt that he was stabbed in the back.

After the attack in Zaho / Duhok, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which plays the game by the rules and is quite adept at producing Ankara-based policies, condemned the attack in which civilians lost their lives. In the statement, it was stated that Turkey is against all kinds of attacks targeting civilians, "It is appreciated that such attacks, which are considered to be caused by a terrorist organization, target our country's just and determined stance in the fight against terrorism." statements are included. (4)

The Iraqi government, which reacted harshly to Ankara after the attack, recalled the chargé d'affaires and called on Turkey to withdraw its forces from Iraqi soil. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kazimi blames Turkey for the artillery attack in Northern Iraq. After the attack, national mourning was declared in Iraq, and Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kazimi, who blamed Turkey, could not help but say that they reserved their right to respond. The Baghdad Regime, or rather the Iranian parallel state within the Baghdad Regime, immediately blamed Turkey for the attack.

President Erdogan had to say the following right after the Tehran Summit, where Putin and his leader met. If you say "The Turkish Army should not be on our lands", then prevent PeKaKa from sheltering within the borders of your country, and do what is necessary to be a state. You haven't done this for years, we've seen this movie many times. In the statement made by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the developments, the Iraqi authorities were called "not to make statements under the influence of the discourse and propaganda of the terrorist organization". (5)

Turkey has been openly accused of this attack, which is clearly provocative, and it has been tried to be defamed with all the dirty tricks of the media. Turkey has been consciously and clearly targeted. It is regrettable to express that Turkey does not have any valid documenting cards other than provocative denial of this event. Yes, Dear Readers, Although there is no document in the hands of Turkey that will convince or convince a badly conditioned European public opinion, the common sense of the public shows that, perhaps, evidence that is now accepted by everyone, rather than documents, clearly reveals these. The whole world knows that Turkey will never be able to carry out such an attack against civilians, and that it embraces refugees with a full Mevlana approach and incorporates them despite all the negativities, which is appreciated by both Latin America and the Pacific and Far East Countries.

In short, the whole world, except for the sharpened and conditioned European public opinion against Turkey and the Turkish people, positively applauds Turkey within the framework of Greece's inhumane and criminal attitudes that pushed and sank refugee boats in the Sea of ​​Islands. As the Republic of Turkey continues its fight against terrorism in accordance with international law, the humane stance of the Turkish Armed Forces in the face of this provocative act has not committed any attack on civilians so far, and has also known how to bring those who did it to justice. Let's state a fact with all its nakedness, although it has been the target of many attacks, neither the MIT nor the Turkish Armed Forces have attacked civilians. If that were the case, it would not have been possible for our army to stay in Iraq, Syria and Libya for such a long time. So Turkey is on the right track. Iraq is living a war within a war.

Since the US invaded Iraq, our southeastern neighbor Iraq has not been able to stabilize. Unfortunately, in Iraq, Shiites on one side, Sunnis on the other, Kurds are in a situation that infuriates the people of the region due to the opportunist attitudes of the leadership cadre because of their close stance to the USA. So much so that, if the situation "goes like this", what will happen is not just a "separation", but also a very bloody, very dark, horrific series of massacres, a slaughter, and anxieties of ethnic cleansing. The danger facing the region is the deep ties that come from sharing the same land, the same culture and religion for centuries to come to such a dire end. The blood of thousands of people spilled so far and the great spiritual swings experienced have started to destroy this bond, which has started to crack. Here is the extent of the danger.

After all this, it can be said that three options with high probability should be examined. The first of these is the Iranian factor, the second is the activation factor of PeKaKa in the face of the strong Astana exit in Iran, and the third is the probability of a possible accident.

The Tehran meeting was a consolidation, consolidation and consolidation summit with both Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ibrahim Reisi. The erosion of trust towards Iran stopped with this meeting, and relations began to strengthen strongly. From this point of view, Tehran Summit on the skirts of Mount Elburz knew how to stop the bad trend. President Erdogan has made several attempts to host Putin in Turkey within the framework of the mediation initiative in Ukraine, and held a tete-a-tete meeting with him in Tehran.

The preliminary agreement reached in the quadrilateral mechanism on the grain corridor formed the basis of this meeting. Erdogan's two-postponed Tehran visit, which has been on the agenda since last December, has been beneficial and fruitful. The sensitive situation between Turkey and Iran in the Iraq chapter was discussed without hesitation. The first of these is the war of influence between Turkey and Iran on the Kirkuk-Mosul-Tel Afer line. The second is Tehran's attitude towards its military operations in Iraq, and the third is the clarification of the bombing of the Turkish Basika Base by the forces affiliated with Hashd al-Shaabi. Fourthly, the support of the Yezidi forces associated with PeKaKa in Sinjar (Shengal), the symbolic name of a mystical Iranian Corridor, stands out as issues of separation between Turkey and Iran.

In addition, the situation of Iran, which is worried that it will lose its connection with Armenia with the Iranian transportation corridors plan after the Karabakh war, as well as the formation of a covert fight about the plan to transport the gas from Kurdistan through Turkey. Again, Tehran offered Ankara options with the allegations that the dams on the Aras, Tigris and Euphrates rivers caused water scarcity and drought. It was also expressed that Turkey, which criticizes Tehran for giving way to Afghan asylum seekers, builds a wall on the border and creates discomfort.

The perception that Ankara is getting closer to the Israeli-Arab axis on an anti-Iranian basis and the Mossad-MIT cooperation regarding the plots to assassinate the Israelis constituted the topics on the table as a factor that increased the tension. (6)

Now let's sit down and talk straight. Iran has never been sincere towards Turkey, and has not cooperated with Turkey in the fight against terrorism without limits and conditions on the issue of PJAK, the Iranian extension of PeKaKa. They have always done the fight against terrorism as they see fit. However, it is seen that although the Zaho/Dohuk provocation has many indications about Iran, it is not entirely Iranian in terms of organizational systematic. Undoubtedly, this does not fully strengthen the argument that Iran is the only one involved. The Revolutionary Guards (Pastaran) forces responsible for PeKaKa and Iran's operations abroad and the organizations under their control are the usual suspects in this attack.

Hamis Hançer, the Chairman of the Sunni al-Siyade Coalition, the largest Sunni coalition in the Iraqi Parliament, stated that the Zaho/Dohuk attack targeting civilians was an attack by the PeKaKa terrorist organization and wanted these attacks to be prevented. However, available evidence indicates that the usual suspects of the attack are PeKaKa and pro-Iranian elements within the Iraqi state structure. First of all, it is important to say that the weapons against which the attack was carried out are not in the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces, but the offensive weapons are found in the Hashd al-Shaabi, which is described as PeKaKa and Shiite ISIS. Remember, there is no perfect murder.

Another issue is the possibility of an accident. Could this be the case? Yes, maybe. However, criminological studies on dead civilians reveal the innocence of the Turkish Armed Forces. The reason for the attack can be clearly seen. The fact that the operations carried out by Turkey in Northern Iraq for the last three years has bent the back of the terrorist organization 'PeKaKa' and the Turkish Armed Forces' length of stay in Iraqi territory has been prolonged, in comparison with the past operations, with the success in the fight against terrorism. The Turkish Air Force, TİHA and SİHAs narrowed the rural areas, especially Kandil, to PeKaKa, and the escape of the terrorist organization to the cities accelerated. The TİHAs and SİHAs that Turkey gained with its successful defense modernization limited PeKaKa's domestic action capability. Turkey has recently become one of the most important actors in the world in the field of unmanned military systems, especially in the MALE (medium altitude / long endurance) and tactical segments. The outstanding successes of the TİHA / UAV-SİHA systems, especially the Bayraktar TB-2 in the Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations, significantly increased the number of these systems in the inventory. (7)

Biden's defiant provocative statements from Jerusalem and Jeddah targeting the Astana Process have brought the Astana Process closer and strengthened. The attempt of the USA to keep the Far East and the Middle East among its priorities in its foreign policy before opening to the Pacific, while continuing to support Ukraine under Russian occupation and strategic competition with China, opens the doors of a bipolar world, dear readers.

Footnotes:

(1) Ferhat Ünlü, Dohuk Provokasyonunun Perde Arkası, 22 Temmuz 2022; https://www.sabah.com.tr/yazarlar/ferhat-unlu/2022/07/22/dohuk-provokasyonunun-perde-arkasi/Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/

(2)https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/kurumlar/icisleri.gov.tr/IcSite/strateji/deneme/YAYINLAR/%C4%B0%C3%87ER%C4%B0K/PKK_COCUK_almanca.pdf/ Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/

(3)https://tr.euronews.com/2022/07/21/kuzey-irakta-saldiri-turkiye-pkkyi-isaret-etti-bagdat-ankarayi-sucladi/

 Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/

(4) https://www.sabah.com.tr/gundem/2022/07/22/son-dakika-haberi-diyarbakir-barosunun-duhok-saldirisi-provokasyonuna-bassavciliktan-inceleme?paging=4/ Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/

(5) https://tr.euronews.com/2022/07/21, age, /Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/

(6) Fehim Taştekin, Zaho’da Katliam, Diplomaside Felaket, Medyascope Tv., 21 Temmuz 2022; https://medyascope.tv/2022/07/21/fehim-tastekin-yorumluyor-zahoda-katliam-diplomaside-felaket%EF%BF%BC/ Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/

(7) Anadolu Ajansı, İHA ve SİHA'lar PKK'nın eylem kabiliyetini sınırladı, 08.02.2019; https://www.aa.com.tr/tr/turkiye/iha-ve-sihalar-pkknin-eylem-kabiliyetini-sinirladi/1387228/ Erişim Tarihi 31.07.2022/