Support to Terrorist Activities: The Meaning of Falling Helicopters in North of Iraq

*Bu yazı 20/03/2023 tarihinde yayınlanmıştır.

 Doç.Dr. Güray ALPAR/SDE Başkanı

In our previous article titled “US Threat Assessment and the Meaning of Visits to Syria and Iraq Regions”, we talked about the sudden increase in visits by US senior officials to Syria and Iraq regions for some reason these days, and commenting that this will have a meaning and consequences for the future. And our comment was “We will probably start to see the results of these visits in the short and medium term, starting today.” (Alpar, 14th March 2023, US Threat Assessment and Meaning of Visits to Syria and Iraq Regions, SDE).

As a matter of fact, it was not surprising that just one day after the publication of this article, on the evening of March 15, two helicopters mysteriously crashed with terrorists in it in the town of Chemanke (Çemanke) in the northern Iraqi province of Duhok, and 9 terrorists, including women (2 terrorist women), died.

Those on the helicopter came from a US-controlled area and the helicopters were French made. Despite the insistence and the serial number being specific, the French authorities refrained from making a statement. Of course, if they say, "We support terrorist activities," how can they explain this to their own public and to the world?

In early 2017, France opposed US President Trump's decision to withdraw its troops from Syria, and President Macron convinced Trump to stay in Syria. The strongest and most visible reaction to Trump's decision to withdraw for the second time at the end of 2018, again came from France, which also has interests in this region. It is known that France has deep and mysterious relations with the PYD/PKK terrorist organization, it hosts its delegations at the Elysee palace, and engages in confusing activities in this country with its special forces. (For example: Arthium Aloyan, a French citizen of Armenian origin, who was captured in Hatay/Türkiye in 2016 and on whom photographs of the conflict zone, images of chemical substances, military attack plans, handmade explosive devices, electronic circuit diagrams used for remote control units were found, in his statement; while fighting on behalf of Al Nusra, he was wounded by a tank shooting, and that besides French, he knew Armenian, Arabic, Russian and Kurdish). France also knows well that it cannot stay in Syria without the United States.

In a statement made two days after the incident by the PKK/YPG (SDG) terrorist organization, "two helicopters on the way to Sulaymaniyah on the evening of March 15, 2023, crashed due to bad weather conditions and that 9 people under the command of (So-called) SDF Anti-Terrorism Forces (YAT) Commander Servan Kobani were died.” Informed. This meant that the members of this organization could illegally enter and leave everywhere without informing the Iraqi authorities in the region.

According to them, those in the aircraft were operating under the leadership of the USA, within the scope of ISIS, and were sharing experience in the fields of military and security expertise in the so-called counterterrorism. However, it was previously announced by the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (IKRG) and its Anti-Terrorism Unit that a 7-person Eurocopter AS 350 type helicopters crashed, and the second helicopter in the region had moved away. The KRG, unfortunately, did not know who the crashed helicopter belonged to and said that a detailed investigation is ongoing. According to the KRG, some of the dead were PKK terrorists. Duhok Governor Ali Teter said that another helicopter accompanied the crashed helicopter, but the second helicopter flew away from the scene and lost its track towards the Syrian border. For some reason, the second helicopter chose to flee instead of helping the crashed, leaving them there to their fate as if they had something to hide.

The incident was also important in that it was evidence of revealing the connection between the YPG and the PKK. Besides, what could the organization in Syria have been doing secretly on the territory of another country, without their permission and knowledge? There was no word from US officials. The Americans, who were said to be aware of every place and every event, for some reason avoided being involved in the event.

They gave the impression that they did not interfere with the statements of the SDF, as if thousands of trucks did not help this organization. The statement by Captain Kewin Livinston, the spokesperson of the USA to fight against DAESH, "Helicopters do not belong to the coalition and are not a part of the operations against DAESH" took the event to a whole new level. According to him, the coalition was not following these helicopters and they had no information about this incident.

Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, spokesman for the US Department of Defense, replied, "No, as far as I know," to the question about whether they provide helicopter training to the PKK/PYD. Perhaps some of them are engaged in some private activities in these areas without the knowledge of the American authorities and the American public. However, everyone knows that any aircraft in the region unaware of the USA and the CIA can neither register nor fly. Moreover, it is known that Şervan Kobani, who was reported to have died in the accident, received pilot training from the US soldiers and was the senior officer of the organization's Land Aviation.

Two years ago, the US and French military officials gave aviation training to the terrorist organization PKK/YPG together in the Syrian settlement of Münbiç. Apart from this, it was previously known that PKK/YPG terrorists not only were given aviation training by the US high-level military authorities, and also they held joint exercises with helicopters.

It was also seen that American senior generals were flying together with the PKK's senior executives in areas such as El Malikiye, El Kahtaniye, Hol and Tel Rıfat. It was also detected that Azad Simi, codenamed Çiya Muhammed, who carried out the Dağlıca and Aktütün outpost raids and terrorist attacks, flew in a US helicopter. The USA was Turkey's ally in NATO, and Türkiye had the second largest power after the USA in the same defense organization, and someone was making the USA do strange things in these regions, knowingly or unknowingly.

The event was very important in terms of revealing the network of dirty relations in the region. The region is an extremely strategic place. Exactly where the helicopters crashed; Near Berkiyat village of Çemanke town of Amediye district of Duhok province. This place is very close to the Gara Mountain Siyani region, where 13 unarmed soldiers and police, who were abducted and detained from Turkiye 2 years ago, were shot and killed in a cave belonging to PKK members. The region is also in the region where Hashd al-Sha’abi militias and PKK terrorists carried out joint exercises and decided to act together.

There were other incidents in the region as well. The region is in the north of Iraq, but due to its strategic location, the PKK does not want to give up control of this region. Duran Kalkan, one of the so-called leaders of the PKK terrorist organization, said in a program he attended on April 14, 2015, "This region cannot be governed from Erbil, we will not allow it."

In other words, the legitimate authority in the region is not openly recognized by the PKK. There is a clear challenge to both the central Iraqi administration and the KRG. As such, it is not possible for democracy and development to come to the region. The region is between Syria and Qandil and between Syria and Iran. It has a distance of approximately 30 km from the Türkiye border, which is just north of it.

Towards the end of 2020, a mined attack was carried out by the PKK against the Peshmerga forces in this region, and then fire was opened with machine guns and heavy weapons.

There were casualties and wounded in the incident. The armored vehicle that went to rescue them was also attacked and had to turn back. After the incident by the PKK military wing; It was announced that they did not carry out such an attack on purpose, that they were sorry for what had happened, and that there were two-pronged attacks on the two camps where their members were located. After the incident, Brigadier General Hasan Nuri, Peshmerga Forces Organization Officer, made a statement saying, "We did not go to the region for an operation, they laid mines on the road and then they opened fire with rocket launchers and machine guns". Those injured and killed in the incident were from the "Peshmerga Nature and Environmental Protection" unit and did not even take protection with them. Strangely enough, the biggest reaction to this event came from the USA, and the US State Department condemned this event.

Afterwards, many incidents took place in the region, the PKK terrorist organization never wanted to let the Peshmerga into their territory, and when they made an attempt, they did not hesitate to use weapons against the Peshmerga and kill them. The KRG administration, on the other hand, has always had to be shy in giving any response due to its weakness.

In conclusion, this event is important in that it took place right after the contacts of senior officials from the US administration in Syria and Iraq. The activities of terrorists are interesting in that they are part of the games that will set people against each other in the region. This event is not as simple as it is reflected. Some intend to use the people of the region (including Africa) against each other without any casualties. It is also known that some groups in the region, such as the PKK/PYD, are willing to use such a thing. It is certain that there will be other confusing activities in these regions in the coming days. Serious states should not have anything to do with terrorist organizations, as they will eventually shoot themselves. Since the activities of some states that are not in the region began, the terrorist acts in the region have not come to an end, leaving people in pain. The people of the region should be removed from terrorism and terrorists as soon as possible. Only then will it be possible to reach the level of well-deserved welfare.