21 February 2019•Update: 21 February 2019
By Sertac Bulur and Onur Gemici
ANKARA
Terror group PKK has destroyed assets, burned forests and killed workers across Turkey on a wide and systematic scale as part of its strategy to sabotage economic growth in Turkey.
According to information compiled by Anadolu Agency from security sources, PKK, on the one hand, runs an environmental public relations campaign via its affiliated press and social media, while on the other hand, carries out numerous terrorist activities to destroy Turkish investments and nature, especially in eastern and southeastern Turkey.
Destruction of these resources breach international law, including the 1976 Environmental Modification Convention (ENMOD) and the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Convention.
During Turkey's Operation Olive Branch in 2018 that cleared the Syrian border city of Afrin from PKK/YPG, fleeing terrorists burned down hundreds of acres of forest land at the Amanos Mountains in the adjacent southern Turkish province of Hatay.
PKK terrorists also burned forests in the Dortyol district of Hatay and the Havran district of the Aegean city of Balikesir.
In another case, three terrorists were arrested after they were identified as the perpetrators of a 2011 forest fire in Foca, Izmir located at the Aegean coast of Turkey.
Attacking constructions sites
PKK has also targeted construction sites in eastern Turkey in an attempt to hinder investments and impoverish the region.
The poverty of the local Kurdish population in eastern and southeastern Turkey is taken advantage of by the PKK, as the terror group wants to use it as a tool of its recruitment propaganda.
Security reports reveal that PKK recruitment capacity is at its lowest levels in decades after rapid growth in the region and Turkey's decisive war against terror.
Attacks on local population's lifeline
PKK burned down two trucks and many other construction equipment at the site of Kocali Dam in southeastern Adiyaman in June 2015.
In another attack, the terror group confiscated the cell phones of workers and burned most of the construction site that belonged to a local businessman in southeastern Mardin in August 2015.
PKK terrorists attacked a road construction site between Gulyazi and Yemisli villages of southeastern Sirnak's Uludere district in July 2017. The attack carried out by heavy weapons and RPGs, killed two and injured five workers.
Terror attacks not limited to Turkey
In Syria's Tal Rifaat, PKK and its Syrian branch, the YPG, has displaced many civilians who do not agree with the terror group and burned down their houses. Terrorists have burned down several bakeries and destroyed many barley and wheat fields in Tal Rifaat, which has been under PKK/YPG occupation since 2016.
Through demonstrations at the city center in 2018, locals in Tal Rifaat have voiced their support for Turkish control of the city.
Since 2016, Turkey’s Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch operations in northwestern Syria have liberated the region from YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists, including Al-Bab, Afrin and Azaz, making it possible for Syrians who fled the violence there to return home.
The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union, waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years and has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people.
*Vakkas Dogantekin from Ankara has contributed to this story
