Chaldean bishop condemns Turkish air strikes in Kurdistan as 'real terrorism'

January 18, 2016

A Chaldean Catholic bishop in northern Iraq has condemned air strikes by Turkey against Kurdish villages as “real terrorism,” the AsiaNews service reports.

Turkish planes hit the Kurdish villages in what was explained as an assault on the Kurdish Workers’ Party, which is classified by Turkey as a terrorist organization. Bishop Rabban al Qas of Amadiyah and Zaku reports that 37 families were driven from their homes by the bombing, “and now can no longer live in the village because everything has been destroyed.”

“These poor people are now terrified and scared,” the bishop said. He reported that the families had already been living under the threat of the Islamic State, and at least one family had been driven from its home in the Nineveh Valley by previous Islamic State offensives.

Turkey has launched air strikes on targets in northern Iraq as part of the American-led campaign against the Islamic State. Critics of the Ankara regime claim, however, that the raids have focused on Kurdish separatists rather than the Islamic militants.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• For Chaldean bishop, Turkish air strikes against Kurdish villages are “acts of terrorism” (AsiaNews)