Mules are known for their tenacity and stamina. Now they have also become "accessories to crime" targeted by the Turkish army. For hundreds of years for the people living in the Turkey-Iraq border’s hard climate and rough terrain, mules have been the primary mode of moving cargo on the ancient trade routes. With the demarcation of the Turkey-Iraq border in 1926, this traditional cross-border trade was re-branded as cross-border smuggling and the mules were made accessories to the crime of smuggling.
Decadeslong socio-economic dynamics clashed with political dynamics recently in disturbing events on the Turkey-Iraq border. Kurdish-origin villagers living there said that near the village of Ortasu, not far from Uludere (also known as Roboski), Turkish soldiers killed eight mules with rifle fire March 23. At Uludere and nearby villages, people demonstrated for three days, but soldiers, armed with a court order, continued to shoot the mules. We must remember here that Uludere is a sensitive area where on Dec. 28, 2011, the Turkish air force mistakenly bombed and killed 34 smugglers misidentified as militants with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).