The Makhmur refugee camp (also spelled Makhmour or Maxmur) was founded in 1998, and is located in the
Makhmur District,
some 60 Km southwest to
Erbil
Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate.
Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...
, the capital of the
Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous federal region of the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority governorates of Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governora ...
(KRG).
About 12,000 Kurdish refugees, who fled the
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
between
Kurds
Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
and the
Turkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...
in the 1990s, live in this refugee camp.
The refugees and their descendants stem from the
depopulated Kurdish villages in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.
The Turkish authorities claim they had to depopulate the villages as they have been infiltrated by militants of the
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gu ...
(PKK).
Background
In 1994, the refugees fleeing the
Kurdish
Kurdish may refer to:
*Kurds or Kurdish people
*Kurdish language
** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji)
**Central Kurdish (Sorani)
**Southern Kurdish
** Laki Kurdish
*Kurdish alphabets
*Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes:
**Southern ...
villages in
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
were initially based in two camps near
Zakho
Zakho, also spelled Zaxo (, , , , ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region, at the centre of the Zakho District of the Dohuk Governorate, located a few kilometers from the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing. Zakho is known for its celebrations of Newr ...
.
The refugees were known to be loyal to the
PKK and therefore were not assisted by the
Kurdistan Democratic Party
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...
(KDP) which was worried about the leftist ideology the refugees could spread among the local population.
The UNHCR would assist them, much more after the camps habitants staged a hunger strike in front of the UNHCR building in Zakho, demanding an official refugee status.
The UNHCR eventually gave in and provided them with the status of refugees. Following some Turkish airstrikes and the UNHCR refusal to provide the Kurds with an official refugee camp, they established their own camp in the Bersive valley nearby.
It was also in the Bersive camp, where the Kurds first organized an educational program for primary school. Seeing this development, the UNHCR arranged for all the Kurdish refugees from Turkey for a refugee camp in Atroush, some 65 km away from
Duhok
Duhok (; ; , ) is a city in Kurdistan Region, Iraq. It is the capital city of Duhok Governorate.
Name
The city of Duhok received its name from the Kurdish words ’du’ (two) and ’hok’ (lump) as a tax payment of two lumps from the baske ...
in Autumn 1994.
By 1995, most of the refugees fleeing from Turkey, were provided with a living in Atroush camp.
In December 1996, the Atroush camp was closed by the UNHCR.
Following, a major part of the inhabitants accepted an offer by the
Kurdistan Democratic Party
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...
(KDP) to move to Makhmur and another group moved to
Ain Sifni
Ain Sifni (, , ) also known as Shekhan (), is a town and subdistrict in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. It is located in the Shekhan District in the Nineveh Plains. Ain Sifni is largely populated by Yazidis, most of whom speak Kurmanji Kurdish.
In ...
.
From Ain Sifni the refugees had to flee fighting between the PKK and the KDP, who was supported in its fight by the Turkish army. The Refugees then settled to
Sheikan, but their situation remained dire as the KDP did not allow the
UNHCR
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and Humanitarian protection, protect refugees, Internally displaced person, forcibly displaced communities, and Statelessness, s ...
to provide help to the refugees.
Eventually the
World Food Programm and the UNHCR managed to gain access to the refugees.
Then the refugees opted to also move to Makhmur and join the other former inhabitants of the Atroush Camp.
History
The Makhmur camp was established in 1998 on the orders of Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
.
Since the refugees have built homes and developed an own education system.
In Kurdish the camp is called the ''Wargeha Sehid Rustem Cudi,'' which translates into Martyr Rustem Cudi camp
The camp received the support of the UNHCR. The UNHCR assisted to provide the refugees with legal documentation in 2011, which allows them to access to education and health services. Holders of the residency permit are also permitted to apply for work provided by the Government.
In June 2014, as the
Islamic State
The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...
(IS)
captured large areas of northern Iraq, the Makhmour Protection Units (MPU) were established in the camp.
The same year,
Masoud Barzani
Masoud Barzani (; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from 2005 to 2017.
Early life and career
Barzani was bo ...
, then the president of the KRG visited the camp, after the Kurdish forces evicted IS from the Kurdish regions south of Erbil.
From July 2019 onwards, the KRG has limited the liberty of movement of most of the inhabitants of the camp in such way, that many have lost their jobs outside of the camp and the health services were not able to be provided in an adequate way, the
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
reported in November 2019.
Dindar Zebari from the KRG stated that the measure was taken out of security reasons.
Several members of the PKK come from this camp.
A "Garden of the Martyrs" was established at the camp, where deceased PKK members are remembered.
In June 2021, Turkish president
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...
demanded from the Iraqi Government and also the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
(UN) that the PKK should be evicted from the camp or Turkey would do it themselves as a member of UN.
Turkish airstrikes
The refugee camp and its surroundings are often a target for Turkish airstrikes which has led to condemnation by the Iraqi Foreign Minister
Mohamed Ali Alhakim
Dr. Mohamed Ali Alhakim (; born 1952 in Najaf, Iraq) is an Iraqi politician and diplomat. He was the foreign minister of Iraq from October 25, 2018 to May 12, 2020 in the government of Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi. He is the former Permane ...
and caused the inhabitants of the camp to label the Turkish army no better than IS.
Makhmur Camp was bombed during
Operation Claw-Eagle, launched by the
Turkish Armed Forces
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...
on 15 June 2020. A Turkish official spoke to the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
after the operation and claimed the airstrikes were directed at for the new roads built in the area through which attacks against Turkey were assumed to be executed.
On Saturday 5th, during the
Operations Claw-Lightning and Thunderbolt, Turkey made
a target airstrike assassination killing the camp manager, Dr. Bozkir, as well as two others.
Turkey claimed Bozkir to be a senior PKK official and the camp to be "an incubator for terrorism".
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
claimed the strike may have political value to distract from national embarrassment or may be motivated to continue to demonstrate and sell Turkish drones abroad.
[{{Cite web , title=US concerned after Turkey attacks refugee camp , url=https://m.jpost.com/middle-east/us-concerned-after-turkey-attacks-refugee-camp-670217/amp , access-date=2021-06-18 , website=The Jerusalem Post {{! JPost.com , language=en] The US ambassador to the UN
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
Linda Thomas-Greenfield (born November 22, 1952) is an American diplomat who served as the 31st United States Ambassador to the United Nations, United States ambassador to the United Nations under President Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025. She serve ...
expressed her opposition to airstrikes in civilian housing areas, a new stature compared to the Trump's administration
laissez-faire
''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...
.
See also
*
Kurdish villages depopulated by Turkey
*
List of assassinations of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict
This is a list of assassinations of the Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency, usually carried out by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or the security forces of Turkey.
See also
* List of arrested mayors in Turkey – mostly Kurdish parties r ...
References
Refugee camps in Iraq
1998 establishments in Iraq
Kurdish settlements in Iraq
Cross-border operations of Turkey into Iraq