Residents enter Gara Mountain villages for first time since Turkiye-PKK truce

Shafaq News- Duhok

Dozens of residents from villages on the slopes of Mount Gara overlooking Amedi district in northern Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan opened a blocked road on Tuesday and entered their villages for the first time since its closure, following a declared truce between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Shafaq News correspondent reported that the residents gathered at the road leading to their villages, demanding that local authorities officially reopen access so they can resume agricultural work as the farming season begins. Security forces did not reopen the road and asked residents to wait for a formal decision. Protesters then removed concrete barriers themselves and headed directly to their villages, where they began inspecting their homes and farmland.

A resident of Sibindari village told Shafaq News, “We want to go back to our villages. For two years, they have promised to open the road next Sunday, then the one after, but nothing has happened. Now the agricultural season has started and we need to work our land.”

Hussein, from Mezi village, warned that tensions could escalate if access remains restricted. “If this road is not opened today, the problem will grow tomorrow. All residents of the area will rise up, and we will block the main road entirely if we are not allowed to cross to our villages,” he said.

“We have suffered neglect. There have been many promises, but no implementation. That is why we decided to open the road on our own responsibility. There is no fighting at the moment.”

Dozens of villages are located on the slopes of Mount Gara. Their residents were displaced about three years ago due to armed clashes between the PKK —an armed group engaged in a long-running conflict with Turkiye— and the Turkish military. The fighting caused significant material damage to homes and destroyed thousands of hectares of agricultural land.