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Turkey/Iraq: first ICRC surveys in turkish-controlled northern Iraq

12-04-1995 News Release 15

In the past few days the ICRC has carried out several surveys of the situation in the part of Iraqi Kurdistan which has been under Turkish army control since 20 March.

Two delegates went to Zakho, a town close to the Turkish border, to meet representatives of the Turkish government, and afterwards travelled toward Kani Masi and Amadiyah along two roads which run parallel to the border. Their first reports describe villages deserted by the population to avoid the arrival of Turkish troops. In the province of Amadiyah alone, some 500 families have headed south toward Sarsang and found shelter among the local population.

One of the ICRC's concerns is for the people of certain villages cut off from the outside world by the military operations now under way. Delegates are keeping in contact with the Turkish authorities in Zakho to ensure that supplies can be delivered to these villages and that any necessary medical evacuations can be carried out.

 Further information: René-Luc Thévoz, ICRC Geneva  

 Tel.: ++41 22 730 2302