Chemical attacks in Kurdistan!
UN, EU and OPCW are watching, not taking action!
Turkeys occupation in Syria and Iraq continues. Turkey currently has 48 military headquarters, outposts
and helipads, along with around ten thousand soldiers, on the territory of Southern Kurdistan (Iraq).
Between 10-14th February, Turkey carried out a major operation in the Garê region of Southern
Kurdistan (Iraq). The turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was also confident of the "victory" that would
be achieved after this attack. At that time he said "I will give you good news in a few days," in a
statement to television channels before the attack. However, when the military operation was
defeated by the Kurdish guerrillas, the Turkish army used chemical gas in Garê. Here 13 Turkish soldiers
who earlier were captured by the guerrilla and a group of Guerillas lost their lives. Although the issue
was on the agenda, international institutions did neither take any action and did nor make any
investigation.
Then, on April 23th 2021, the Turkish army launched a massive military attack on the Metina, Zap and
Avasin regions within Iraqi territory. Turkish officials announced in their statements that this operation
will be completed in a very short time. However, although the war in these areas continue for 6
months, the Turkish army could not advance and did not achieve the expected success. The Turkish
army could not advance because of the Kurdish guerrillas' resistance based on the underground
system, involving caves and tunnels. Thereupon, they (means Turkey) started to use the methods of
neutralizing the guerrillas by poisoning the air by throwing poisonous and suffocating chemical bombs
in the areas where these caves and tunnels are located. For this purpose, they repeatedly used
chemical bombs in Metina, Avaşin and Zap, causing the death of dozens of guerrillas.
The Turkish state also launched a policy of evacuating villages in Southern Kurdistan by bombing with
chemical gases not only the guerrilla areas but also the villages in the regions where the guerrilla could
possibly be found. Turkish planes bombed the village of Hirore in Duhok, in Southern Kurdistan (Iraq),
with chemical bombs on September 4, 2021, at 18:45 o’clock. In this attack, a villager Abdullah Hesen
and his family were poisoned and taken to the hospital in Zaho. Doctor Rasul Mohammed, who
examined the family, said the symptoms were unusual. Hospital officials did not explain the cause of
the poisoning to Hesen and his family.
Again in October 2021, 548 villagers were poisoned by chemical gases in and around Kani Masi. They
were taken to Zaho and Duhok hospitals. According to the Kurdish Federal Government the mass
poisoning allegedly imputed to Covid-19. Along with these patients, hospital doctors were prevented
from contacting journalists and the press. Thus, Turkey's chemical bomb attack was hidden from the
public.
However, prohibitive production, sales, stockpile and use of poisonous and suffocating gases and
chemicals, that means the use of these as weapons is a clear war crime according to the Convention
on the Prevention of Chemical Weapons signed in 1997 by 193 signatory states.
A special and “autonomous” institution was established to control and supervise the production of
chemical weapons and to intervene by examining complaints on this issue. Headquartered in The
Hague, this institution is the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Complaints have been brought to the agenda in the national parliaments in Europe, the Council of