The Turkish Army has been reported many times to use the burning of villages, forest and fields as a strategy in the war against the Kurdish insurgents. However, the army not only destroys the villages, the fields, the forests but also animals. Despite the vast research by academics on the destruction of the villages by the Turkish army, little is known about the damage caused by the army to animals. This article deals with the use of mules for the legal or illegal cross-border trade between Turkey-Iraq and Turkey-Iran, more precisely between Kurdish regions, and the destruction of the mules, who play a very important role in this kind of commerce, by the Turkish Army in the context of conflict against the Kurds.
Gülcan Kolay obtained her PhD in Political Science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) in Aix-en-Provence in France. Her thesis focused on cross-border commerce between Turkey and Iraq, more precisely between two Kurdish regions and its consequences on the relation between two sides. Her main interests are nationalism, national minorities, and socio-economic consequences of conflicts, transnational networks, and border issues. She is an independent researcher and lives in Paris. E-mail: gulcankolay@hotmail.com