Egyptian researcher calls on Arabs, Kurds to hold Turkey accountable for chemical weapons

 Jurist and researcher at Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights Muhammad Mukhtar stressed that the use of chemical weapons in armed conflicts is prohibited by international conventions and the four Geneva Conventions, because their use leads to the killing of civilians, in addition to causing future distortions in the short and long term.

 The Turkish occupation state used chemical weapons during its aggression against Afrin canton in 2018, and attacks against the areas of Girê Spî / Tal Abyad and Serêkaniyê / Ras al-Ain in October of 2019, and against Başûr Kurdistan at the beginning of this year. The media center of the Peoples' Defense Forces confirmed that the Army of  the Turkish occupation has used hundreds of times of chemical weapons against the HPG's fighters and civilians, as a result of which dozens of fighters were martyred, and it has repeatedly called for the formation of an international fact-finding committee.

 However, the international community and organizations concerned with the prohibition of chemical weapons have not moved a finger so far.  Muhammad Mukhtar asserts that Turkey has used chemical weapons in many places against the Kurds and the peoples of the region, but the organizations concerned with banning the use of chemical weapons in wars and conflicts, especially the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, remained silent.

 Muhammad Mukhtar said: "Turkey used white phosphorous against civilians in 2019, and many were seriously injured, such as the child Muhammad Hamid, whose body was subjected to many burns and deformities. The response of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was that white phosphorus is not considered a chemical substance, and therefore it is not concerned to investigate this matter! And it rejected the invitations that were sent to her by many organizations.”

 According to the Geneva Convention of 1980, the use of white phosphorous against the civilian population or even against enemies in areas where civilians live, is a war crime.

 Muhammad Mukhtar, on behalf of the Maat Organization for Peace, Development and Human Rights, appealed to international organizations, led by the United Nations and the Human Rights Council, to intervene urgently to condemn what the Turkish occupation state is doing in Başûr Kurdistan, and said: “First, this intervention is a blatant attack on the sovereignty of another country, and this is what it rejects.  Many international laws, and secondly, chemical weapons and international prohibitions are used, and the countries that use them are criminalized by international humanitarian law and the four Geneva Conventions.

 Humanitarian law generally prohibits any weapon "of a nature to cause unnecessary injury or suffering" as well as any weapon that can cause severe or indiscriminate damage.  (Protocol I Art. 35).

 There is also a set of treaties prohibiting the use of chemical weapons in international armed conflicts, including the Hague Declaration on Asphyxiating Gases, the Geneva Protocol on Gases, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

 European Parliament succumbs to Turkish pressure

 Mokhtar asserts: "Both international humanitarian law and the four Geneva Conventions criminalize aggressors against civilians and the use of chemical weapons in armed conflicts."  He referred to the reasons why the international organization concerned with the prohibition of chemical weapons remained silent during their use by the Turkish occupying state, and said: "First, the superficial reporting of these organizations about the chemical weapons used and the consideration of what Turkey uses as a non-chemical weapon such as white phosphorous, this notification is fragile, weak and false."

 Mukhtar noted that the second reason is the result of the pressure exerted by the Turkish occupying state on the relevant organizations and some European countries not to recognize its aggression on the Syrian and Iraqi lands.  The European Parliament has questioned the reasons for the silence of the European Parliament and the failure to condemn the violations committed by the Turkish government in northern Iraq since last April until now, but the Parliament presented false and contradictory arguments as a result of the Turkish pressures that moved the refugee file and mobilized them on the borders towards Greece.  The European Parliament is yielding to Turkish pressure."

 Mukhtar referred to another reason cited by international organizations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which is the lack of large numbers of deaths among civilians, and said: "Despite the long-term harm caused by the use of chemical weapons on civilians, international organizations have not acted so far, and this is a matter of concern.  ".

 Mukhtar noted that the victims, civilians and those affected by the chemical weapons used by Turkey have not been able to reach UN and international organizations so far as a result of the severity of the attacks on the areas of Başûr Kurdistan.

 Muhammad Mukhtar stressed the need for victims and those affected by chemical weapons to urgently file complaints to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and UN organizations, and to file lawsuits against the Turkish occupation state.  Turkey, whether in Syria or in Iraq.

 What is needed now

 Mukhtar explained that the first steps that must be taken now to stop the violations and crimes of the Turkish occupation and hold it accountable later is to organize major campaigns to pressure the UN organizations, the European Parliament and the Human Rights Organization to break their silence.  He noted that the largest role falls on the shoulders of human rights and humanitarian organizations in the region, and stressed the need for the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to act urgently and condemn the Turkish attacks in international forums.

 Mokhtar indicated that the Arab League is required to intensify its statements condemning the Turkish attacks on vast areas of Iraqi and Syrian lands.  He said: "The Arab League has condemned Turkish interference in Iraqi and Syrian affairs in the past, and this is not enough."

 Muhammad Mukhtar stressed the need for the Arab League to take faster and stronger steps, to urgently convene an Arab summit to discuss Turkish interference in Arab affairs, and to take appropriate measures to deter direct Turkish interference in both Syria and Iraq, and indirectly in some areas within the Arab world.  In addition to triggering more lawsuits against Turkey.  He pointed to the role of the Kurdish and Arab societies.  In this regard, he said: "The Kurdish and Arab civil societies must unite and put pressure on the Arab League to move the Turkish file before the whole world."

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 ANHA