UN Complaint Lodged Over Turkish Airstrikes on Iraqi Hospital

Facts

• Two nongovernmental organizations — the Accountability Unit and Women for Justice — have lodged a formal complaint with the UN concerning Turkish airstrikes in 2021 which allegedly targeted an Iraqi hospital.¹
• The complaint has been filed on behalf of four Iraqi citizens, who are all Yazidi. The complaint follows a two-year investigation into the airstrikes, which saw eight civilians killed and 15 others injured.²
• The four individuals are all survivors or witnesses of the event and argue that the airstrikes violated Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.³
• Turkey claims the airstrikes were targeted at Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), a Yazidi militia Turkey claims is allegedly linked to the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) — a Kurdish group outlawed in Turkey.⁴
• In July 2022, a report published by the Yazidi Justice Committee (YJC) argued that Iraq, Syria, and Turkey should be taken to the International Court of Justice for their role in the Islamic State group's ethnic cleansing of the Yazidis in the mid-2010s.⁵
• Turkey continues airstrikes and the deployment of troops in both northern Iraq and Syria with a stated mission to fight the PKK. Iraq has previously demanded the end to what it sees as aggression within Iraqi territory.⁶

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²Doughty Street Chambers, ³Medya News, ⁴Gercek News, ⁵Ibanet, and ⁶Mehr News Agency.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Turkish Minute. Turkey continues to intensify its war against Kurdish militants in both Syria and Iraq, exploiting the weaknesses of its neighbors. Despite Syria and Iraq's own history of oppressing religious minorities, these two nations two have become distracted by Ankara's persistent military offenses within their territories. The likes of the PKK have become a convenient excuse for Turkey to invade and exercise control over Arab states, and Ankara remains adamant about continued military action — with the Yazidis sadly becoming collateral damage.
• Narrative B, as provided by Hürriyet Daily News. Iraq must do more to fight the PKK and recognize the group as a terrorist organization. Both Ankara and Baghdad know too well the dangers of terrorism, regardless of if there are differences in approach. Turkey continues to remain open to cooperation with Iraq in fighting the likes of the PKK, as the security of both Turkey and Iraq are by nature inseparable.