EC Meeting July 2022

What does the Mukhtar think? “We know him for many years. He is a good man and has a good heart. But he is not strong against PDK. I think they threaten to him. He says he will speak to them but nothing happens. “Turkey is killing us. They want to come and take much of our land and steal our homes and given them to people. “Every day there is bombings and shooting. At night the sky lights up red. We are afraid of the night. Please Steve, help make it stop. Tell your government to help the Kurdish people. D “I am a doctor and I have treated people for the effects of chemical weapons. Many people have come to us after Turkey’s attacks with burns, breathing difficulties and marks on their bodies. “But we are told by PDK [meaning KDP] that we are not allowed to say it is a chemical attack because this will cause problems. Are you sure that these people have been exposed to chemicals? How many have you treated? “I do not know exactly. I think maybe 20 people, something like this. Others have treated more than this. “But I am sure that chemicals have been used. I have seen it many times before and it is an important part of the medical training. I have worked as an army medic and treated many soldiers. This is the same. It is like Sardasht and Halabja. You know these attacks? Yes, I have visited Halabja many times. What about the hospital or medical centre bosses, what are they saying? “We are good people and we like peace and freedom. We deserve this. It is not fair.”

“Steve, we are threatened by security forces. They came to the medical centre after we treated some people for chemicals. They took the report away and made us change it. What happened? Did anyone complain? “Yes because it was saying we did not know what we were doing. It doubted our diagnosis and treatment. We said we know it is chemicals and it is what we treated them for. Our report said this. “But then we were told it is a problem and bosses were frightened and we were made to change the report and say we made a mistake. But we hadn’t. What would have happened if you refused to change the report? “We know we would have been kicked out of the job and maybe even arrested or tortured. This is what Parastin [KDP-affiliated security forces] do. And they make people disappear. It was not said like this exactly, but we know.” E “Turkey is humiliating us. “Soldiers made us get out of the car and stand facing against the side of mountain. My children were crying but they shouted at them to be quiet. They wanted to hold my hand but were not allowed. “They kept saying the word terrorist and pointed machine guns at us. They said Turkey can do what it wants and we are deserving this. “We had some things in the car and soldiers threw them onto the road. It was dark and we couldn’t see everything. They were around my husband and told him they know he is PKK. “But he is a shepherd. We do not know any guerrilla. They are not even in this area. We told them this but they said we are lying. “Soldiers were laughing and smoking cigarette as they watched us on the ground. They kicked our things so we could not pick them up. This is not nice way to treat people. We are human beings.

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