#TurkeyInvadesKurdistan: Social media reactions to latest Turkish offensive

Karwan Faidhi Dri

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Thousands of social media users around the world have taken to Twitter and other platforms to show their solidarity with Kurds during Turkey’s latest operations in the Kurdistan Region, which have thus far claimed the lives of five civilians in just over two weeks.

Turkey says it is only striking Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in the Region, but many of those using hashtags including #TurkeyInvadesKurdistan say the campaign has had a wider cost on the general Kurdish population.

Ankara launched the air-based Operation Claw-Eagle on June 15 and the ground-based Operation Claw-Tiger two days later. The offensive’s civilian casualties have caused widespread anger across the Kurdistan Region, and even resulted in protests. 

However, public fury reached a peak when a strike hit Kuna Masi resort in Sulaimani province on June 25, injuring six civilians. 

Many blame Turkey for the unclaimed drone attack.  However, the neighboring country has neither confirmed or denied its involvement in the strike, instead maintaining that it never targets civilians. 

Kurdish Twitter users popularized several hashtags this week in response to the offensive, several of which have trended worldwide, especially in Western countries home to a large Kurdish diaspora. 

#TurkeyIsBombingKurds has been used in more than 80,000 tweets, while #TurkeyInvadesKurdistan has been used in nearly 300,000 over the last couple of days, according to the social media analytics site getdaytrends.com. 

Many Kurdish users took the opportunity to share past incidents and personal experience they claim are part of the Turkish government’s oppressive policy towards Kurds. 


The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has asked the PKK to leave its land and Turkey to respect its sovereignty. 

YourAnonNews, a Twitter account with 7.5 million followers claiming to be affiliated to the international hacker collective Anonymous - has also joined the campaign. 


Youtuber Nuha Bahadeen shared a video on her channel, featuring several Kurdish women saying, “we are Kurdish and we are not terrorists” in different languages. 

Bahadeen says that the video is a response to Turkey’s recent offensive in the Kurdistan Region. 

“This attack and many [others[ like it in every way is a grave human rights violation,” she said adding that the targeted areas are “populated by peaceful residents and families, just like me, people like you, or the people shown in this video - people who want to live in safety and dignity.”

Dilshad, a Kurdish Twitter user, accused Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of using the bombing to rally voters.