Thousands of Christians continue to abandon their homes in northern Iraq in the wake of air strikes by Turkey’s air force.
Accoridng to the group International Christian Concern, since the beginning of Turkey’s airstrikes in northern Iraq, nine of the 11 Christian villages in the Zakho district have beenreportedly evacuated.
An increasingly interventionist Ankara began “Operation Eagle Claw” in mid-June, bombing alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq.
Christian villagers complain of serious economic devastation, as crops are burned during the airstrikes and visitors are prevented from reaching and leaving the area.
Many of the remaining Christians in the region, amongst the most ancient communities the Middle East, are also struggling to recover from genocidal attacks by the Islamist extremists, such as ISIS, against religious minorities.