Turkey: Independent investigations needed

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has sent an appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Seid bin Ra’ad Seid Al-Hussein, demanding independent investigations into the brutal behavior of Turkish soldiers and members of the anti-terror units, who are apparently guilty of torturing Kurdish citizens. “While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other representatives of the Turkish government are trying to convince Turkish citizens living in Germany of their plans for an authoritarian presidential system, the Turkish security forces are harassing the Kurdish civilian population in the south-east of the country,” criticized Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East expert, in Göttingen on Thursday. “It is deeply humiliating and inhumane that Turkish soldiers are proudly posting photos of burning houses and mutilated civilians victims on the Internet. The international public can not simply accept this!”

Since February 11, frightening pictures from the Kurdish village Koruköy (Xerabe Dava) in the south-east of Turkey – which was cordoned off by the army – can be found on social media platforms. Apparently, 39 Kurds were arrested and tortured.

The STP warned that the war against the Kurds in Turkey is about to escalate. Germany, the US, and the EU should react to Erdogan’s course of violence with a new policy based on political consensus and peaceful solutions. “There must be initiatives to further a dialogue with the Kurdish HDP and other Kurdish parties and to find a peaceful solutions to the conflict,” Sido stated. The HDP advocates for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, demanding both the PKK and the Turkish government to end the violence and to start a political dialogue immediately.

Since the war broke out in 2015, more than 500,000 people have been forcibly resettled – and more than 7,000 members, executives, and elected representatives of the pro-Kurdish HPD party have been arrested. Since the coup attempt in July 2016, Erdogan’s policy has become increasingly repressive and authoritarian: nearly 120,000 civil servants and judges have been dismissed, more than 100,000 people have been arrested, and over 2,000 educational institutions have been closed. Almost 200 media were shut down, including 15 Kurdish media. 146 journalists are still in custody.

Header Photo: Marco Castro via UN Photo