Protests in Germany ask Turkey to stop using chemical weapons in Kurdistan
Protesters hold a banner reading ‘No to the Turkish invasion of Southern Kurdistan’ during a demonstration against Turkey’s alleged use of chemical weapons in the Kurdish region, in Duesseldorf, Germany. Photo: AP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday in Dusseldorf, Germany, against Turkey’s alleged use of chemical weapons in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and against the international community’s apparent carelessness about the issue.
Speakers criticized governments for not addressing the alleged war crimes which Turkey denied, bearing the slogan ‘Stop chemical warfare in Kurdistan!’
The spokesperson of Dusseldorf police, Marcel Fiebig, explained that several thousand people took part in the demonstration organized by Kon-Med, a Germany-based association of Kurdish groups, according to the AP.
Last month, Turkish officials strongly rejected the allegations made by Kurdish militants that the Turkish military used chemical weapons against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, insisting the military doesn’t have such weapons, the AP mentioned.
Those statements did little to assure the demonstrators, who criticized Germany’s reticence to investigate, the AP added.
Last month, the Turkish police detained the president of the Turkish Medical Association, Sebnem Korur Fincanci, after she called for an independent investigation into allegations that Turkey’s military used chemical weapons against Kurdish militants, the AP explained.
Fincanci, a leading human rights activist, was detained on charges of disseminating ‘terrorist propaganda,’ according to the Ankara chief prosecutor’s office, the AP clarified.
Turkey has been conducting a series of military operations in northern Iraq since 2019, saying it’s targeting the PKK to prevent it from launching cross-border attacks on Turkey.