Baxtyar Speri greets mourners on the second day of his father’s funeral. On a windy day in early December 2020 his father Muhsin Speri, 64, and two friends, Hasan Sadiq and Safar Sini, set off on a foraging trip to the mountains north of the town of Deraluk. “He used to go with his friends to catch fish, find wild honey, gather herbs in the mountains to sell them in the market,” says Baxtyar. After eight days with no word, the men’s families began to worry and a search party was dispatched. Their bodies were found in a small valley close to the banks of the Zab river. “When we found the bodies, Hassan and Safar were both close to where the rocket had hit”, says Baxtyar, his fathers’ death had not been so quick. “He had tried to move to get help, to get phone signal or fire his gun to alert someone,” says Baxtiyar. “That’s how he died. Suffering for maybe two or three days.” Displaced from their village in 1988 due to Saddam Hussein’s Anfal campaign against the Kurds, the Speri’s fled Iraq before returning and settling in Deraluk. “My father lost his life for the bread on our table, both the Turks and PKK have the blood of my innocent father on their hands.”
Mukhlis Adam’s mother and sisters are seen at his grave in the town of Sheladze. In June 2020, Mukhlis, 28, and his two friends Azad Mahdi, 26, and Deman Omar, 28, were killed in a suspected Turkish airstrike when the car they were traveling in was targeted as they drove to a local spring for a picnic. Witnesses at the scene described the presence of two additional bodies whom they described as PKK members. Recently married and expecting his first child Adams’ infant daughter Zeri is now cared for by his immediate family.
Barani Abdujubar Shexo, 67, tends to his flock of sheep in the hills surrounding Sheladze. Displaced from his village of Bire in 1988, the conflict between Turkey and the PKK makes it impossible for residents to return to their lands limiting their ability to generate income for their families. “I pay a local landowner 1,500,000 IRD (1,000 USD) to graze my flock here during the winter months, on top of this I need to buy $10,000 worth of feed for my animals”, says Mr Shexo. “If we were in our village we would not have to pay to graze or feed our animals”.
Baby Zeri (meaning Golden in Kurdish) is seen surrounded by her aunts and uncles. Following the death of her father, Mukhlis Adam, Zeri is now cared for by his immediate family. In an act of grief the family burnt the photographs they had of Mukhlis but they say Zeri looks just like him.
Mountainous terrain in Soran District close to the border with Turkey.
Relatives of Colonel Zuber Hali Bradosti of the Iraqi Border Police (IBP) are seen at the unveiling of a monument in his honour in the town of Sidakan. The Kurdish member of the IBP had reportedly approached a PKK outpost when he became the target of a Turkish airstrike in August 2020, along with his colleague Mohammed Rashid Sleman.
The Rashava Valley is seen from the main street in Deraluk. The valley offers one of the only access points to the mountains north of the town where villagers frequently go to forage. The bodies of villagers killed in bombardments in the mountains beyond are brought back along the same route.
Naif Shakir Mohammed pays his respects at the graves of Jalal Nuradin, 60 and Ahmed Nuradin, 30 in a cemetery in the town of Deraluk. The father and son were killed in a suspected Turkish airstrike whilst foraging in May 2020.
Tamar Ameen Tamar, 66, makes his way home from a mosque. In 1998 Tamar lost his mother and daughter were killed in fighting between the PKK and the Turkish military. In 2017 his son was one of a party of 7 killed in a Turkish airstrike whilst fishing in a nearby river. In 2018 whilst grazing his goats in the countryside Tamar stepped on a landmine, he lost his right leg below the knee and his left leg was severely damaged, “after that incident I haven’t been able to do anything, before I was able to make some money, now I just sit at home… I am unable to help support my family”.
In a social club in the town of Sheladze retired members of the Peshmerga (Iraqi Kurdish armed forces) discuss the regions tumultuous history, “we used to control these mountains when we were Peshmerga fighting Sadam” remembers Tayar Ahmed surrounded by his former comrades, “we couldn’t come into towns like Sheladze… now we can’t leave”. Unemployment amongst the town’s youths presents a major issue, “we fought our enemy with our rifles, this generation’s war is against joblessness and a lack of opportunity”, says Mr Ahmed.
Saman Kamal, 31, and his friends drink cups of tea on a hill overlooking the town of Deraluk. “It’s very hard to be young and live in Deraluk” says Saman, “our aim is to go to Europe”. Many young people from the town have taken the dangerous overland journey in search of a better life in Europe, “mostly the youth who leave aim to go to Britain” says Saman, “those who haven’t gone yet it’s only because they don’t have the money. We go because we have lost hope” says Saman as his friends nod in agreement. As the sun sinks behind the mountains to the south news breaks of multiple Turkish airstrikes across the Iraqi Kurdish region, resulting in two young children being injured.