ANKARA - Stating that the use of chemical weapons is a crime against humanity, political party representatives, said that the government is trying to cover up the crime.

 

17 HPG members lost their lives as a result of the use of chemical weapons in the last 3 months in Turkey's attacks on the Zap, Metîna and Avaşîn regions of Southern Kurdistan. In addition to documents and findings regarding Turkey's chemical weapons attacks, Fırat News Agency (ANF) has released images of the last moments of HPG members before they die, who were exposed to chemical weapons. Calls are made to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and related institutions to conduct an investigation into the chemical use of Turkey. 

 

Political party representatives also called for Turkey to stop these attacks and for relevant institutions to conduct research.

 

UNREST OF THE GOVERNMENT

 

Stating that the videos regarding the use of chemical weapons should be clarified, Sanem Deniz Kural, Member of the Central Committee of the Labor Movement Party (EHP), stated that the use of chemical weapons is a very serious crime at the international level. Kural said, “The current government is uncomfortable even with the issue of the use of chemical weapons is discussed. They don't want to appear like they have come to the point of using the forbidden chemical weapon. Talking about this issue creates this result.”

 

THEY ARE INTIMIDATING THE SOCIETY

 

Stating that the AKP intimidates the society and those who struggle for labour and democracy at every opportunity, Kural said, "If you question any issue, they say, 'We will treat you just like we treated Fincancı'. However, those who fight for labor and freedom in the country saw everything. What has been done will not be able to hold back the people who are struggling in the field of social opposition. In the face of all this, we will not give up our struggle. We will send those who try to suppress those who are fighting for democracy."

 

THEY ARE COVERING UP THE CRIME

 

Reminding that the use of chemical weapons was banned by the Geneva Convention in 1925, Socialist Re-establishment Party (SYKP) Central Executive Committee Member Halit Elçi said that the production, possession and use of chemical weapons is a crime against humanity and requires trial in international criminal courts. Elçi said, “Any democratic and responsible political power, faced with such a grave accusation would try to clear itself off the accusations. But the AKP-MHP government is doing the opposite. Far from doing what is necessary for national and international institutions to carry out the necessary investigations in the region, it arrests 9 journalists reporting on the subject. it arrests Turkish Medical Association (TTB) Central Council President Şebnem Korur Fincancı, and made the law enforcement officers attack those who wanted to make a press statement to draw attention to the issue. These are the behaviors of criminals who want to cover up their crimes. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the United Nations, the relevant international institutions should immediately go to the region, examine the allegations on the spot and take the necessary steps to punish those responsible if there is a crime. National and international public opinion should follow the issue. We will fight with all our might to ensure that those responsible for the use of chemical weapons, which is a crime against humanity and a war crime, are punished most severely. This is not just a political goal, it is a humanitarian duty.”

 

'NATO COUNTRIES PRODUCE THE CHEMICALS'

 

Expressing that the use of chemicals to massacre Kurds in the Middle East  dates back to decades, Revolutionary Party Chairman Elif Torun Öneren said, “The use of chemical weapons were used in Dersim in the first years of the Republic. We see that it is not just an attack directed by Turkey, with Saddam's massacre of the people in Halabja with the smell of apples. In Syria, the jihadists carried out massacres with the raw materials they obtained from Turkey. It is known that Turkey has the raw material of this type of lethal gas, especially 'sarine' gas. It is not possible to think that it does not produce its own chemical weapon with the raw material it can export thousands of tons of. Although it is prohibited by international conventions, sovereigns, especially NATO member countries, produce, sell and use the chemical. Hulusi Akar's claim that "it is not in our inventory" does not match the facts. 

 

Öneren stated that the arrest of Şebnem Korur Fincancı is also a symbol of the reaction against the chemical attack of the state and said, “The KDP is paving the way for this massacre. First, it seized the gas masks and then it acted for the Turkish army to move freely in the region. It cooperates with Turkey in the Kurdish massacre. We will continue to say 'the use of chemical weapons is a crime' and to fight for it."

 

MA / Zerrin Sargut