ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Residents of villages at the foothills of Mount Gara in Duhok province blocked the main road between Amedi and Shiladze on Tuesday, protesting a three-year ban preventing them from returning to their homes due to the conflicts between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), as the peace process is underway between them. They were allowed to visit their villages, but only at their own risk.
The road, which leads to dozens of rural areas in Amedi district, has been largely inaccessible to villagers because of clashes between Turkish forces and the PKK in the border areas.
Frustrated by the prolonged displacement, villagers halted traffic in an effort to pressure authorities to allow them back.
“It would be better for us to die than to live like this; dying right now would be better. For a year now, we have been longing [to go back]; they won’t let us go to our villages,” Mikael Ahmed, a local resident participating in the protest, told Rudaw.
“It is the season for pruning, the season for planting sumac - it is the season for everything. We would have been happy if they had opened the roads themselves, but they won't,” he added.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for many families in the area, and residents say missing planting and harvesting seasons has deepened their economic hardship.
Mohammed Barigareyi, another villager, argued that security conditions had improved amid the renewed peace process and wondered why access remained restricted.
“Since last year, the road has been secured and there are no issues; the area is safe. Yet, they still won't let us go to our villages,” he said. “We went to the district mayor’s office, and they just tell us 'yes, yes' [making empty promises]. We have been going there for two weeks now, but nothing is being done.”
The latest development comes amid a renewed peace process in Turkey that began after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan issued a historic call in February last year urging the group to disarm. The call was followed by a unilateral PKK ceasefire and symbolic steps toward disarmament.
While the PKK says it has taken further measures to advance the process, it has accused Ankara of failing to take concrete reciprocal steps.
Warshin Salman, mayor of Amedi district, acknowledged the residents’ grievances and linked their displacement to previous Turkey-PKK clashes in the region.
“Due to the prior conflicts in this region, the residents of several villages in the Amedi district were unable to reach their villages. However, since the peace process [between PKK and Ankara] began, it is our hope and the hope of the local people that they can return to their villages like others in the Kurdistan Region,” Salman told Rudaw.
“This would allow the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to provide services so that the residents can live and reside in peace. God willing, we will make every effort with the relevant parties to ensure these people can return to their villages once again.”
About an hour after the protest began, authorities allowed villagers to enter their communities, though residents were informed they would do so at their own risk.
Of the 29 villages in the district, only three currently have accessible roads, according to local officials. The rest remain restricted areas despite the recent easing of tensions between Turkey and the PKK.
