Turkey’s actions in Syria violate humanitarian laws, threaten security
IT IS time for the UN Security Council to refer the matter of Turkey’s war crimes to the International Criminal Court, seeing as Turkey is not a member of the ICC.
Human rights organisations have documented Turkey’s war crimes in Northern Syria over the past few months, as well as its violations of humanitarian law.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated this week that Turkey won’t stop at bombing Kurds in Afrin in Northern Syria, but will move east to attack Kurds in Manbij and then Kobani – the city Kurdish fighters had liberated from the Islamic State.
On Monday, Erdogan threatened to attack Sinjar in Northern Iraq. Turkey’s aim is to wipe out the Kurdish fighters of the YPG (People’s Protection Units) which it believes have links to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), a claim the YPG denies.
Turkey has no right under international law to attack or invade Syria or Iraq which are sovereign countries, making its actions a threat to international peace and security.
The laws of war prohibit the targeting of civilians, indiscriminate attacks and disproportionate use of force. Turkey has violated those laws of war in its military onslaught on the Northern Syrian town of Afrin, sending its population of 350 000 residents fleeing for their lives.
The residents of Afrin are not only Kurds, but Yazidis, Christians, Alevis and Sunni Muslims, many of whom had fled to Afrin to find sanctuary since the Syrian war began in 2011, as Northern Syria was considered one of the most stable and safest places for refugees.
Erdogan has not even tried to hide his excesses as he said on February 20 that Turkey would besiege Afrin and cut off all external aid, which was a clear declaration of his intent to violate humanitarian law with impunity.
Erdogan’s military offensive has gone beyond all acceptable limits, bombing schools, hospitals and water stations.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented the indiscriminate shelling of civilians in Afrin. Unicef and the OHCHR have documented how after Turkish forces captured Afrin dam, they closed off access to the residents of Afrin, denying them drinking water – a blatant war crime.
Even worse, on February 18 the Health Council of Afrin issued a statement that toxic gases had been used by Turkish occupying forces, in particular chlorine gas.
Dr Khalil Sabri from Afrin hospital reported that the toxic gases resulted in the suffocation of at least six civilians. Photographs of the victims appear in the report Human Rights Violations in Afrin compiled by the Democratic Self-Administration of Rojava. This time we didn’t see the ghastly images of civilians choking on Youtube, nor a US military strike to warn Turkey against the use of such toxic gas on civilian areas.
To add to the barbarity, Syrian Kurds in Afrin have accused Turkish-backed rebels of mutilating and then filming the body of one of their female fighters after a video emerged of her corpse. A Kurdish official identified the woman as Barin Kobani, who took part in a US-backed campaign to drive the Islamic State from the northern town of Kobani.
Turkish forces and Turkish-backed rebels also pulled down a statue of a legendary Kurdish blacksmith in the centre of Afrin town this week. The YPG said this was the first blatant violation of Kurdish people’s culture and history since the takeover of Afrin.
Turkish forces also allegedly destroyed the ancient 3 000-year-old Hittite temple complex of Ain Dara in Syria. All indications are that Turkish occupation of Afrin will result in the resuscitation of Isis in the region.
The US response to devastation exacted on the Kurds who the US supported in the fight against Isis, is lame. The US has expressed “serious concern to Turkish officials,” but the US is “committed to Nato ally Turkey.”
If that is how a member of Nato conducts war, how can Nato tolerate Turkey as a member of the alliance?
There are no consequences for Turkey’s violation of UN Resolution 2401, which has demanded a 30-day ceasefire in Syria in order to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Last week the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group in South Africa staged a demonstration outside Parliament supported by the ANC, SACP, Cosatu, and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers. They called on our government to express solidarity with the people of Afrin.
All the parties urged our government to demand Turkey’s withdrawal from Afrin and call for a no-fly zone over the Afrin region in order to preserve civilian lives and infrastructure. If the government is committed to the notion of human security, then it has a responsibility to do so.