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Stop Turkey’s military offensive 

November 20th Turkey launched a new offensive against the area of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Many civilians were killed, a hospital and grain depots were destroyed. 

With this offensive, the perpetrators of the Istanbul attack have unmasked themselves. The Turkish state’s monist ideology is the driving force behind this anti-Kurdish warfare. Any achievements of the Kurds in the context of a democratic and gender-just understanding of society are to be destroyed. The catastrophic political situation in Turkey and the upcoming elections in 2023 add up to this. The so-called opposition is silent on the military offensive; in its anti-Kurdish actions, it agrees with the government. 
To date, silence has also been on the agenda of the international community, above all the European Union and the Council of Europe. International law does not seem to apply when it comes to Turkey – a member of NATO and the Council of Europe and a candidate for EU membership. 

Turkey’s war crimes must not remain without consequences. Toughest sanctions and an immediate no-fly zone are essential. The international community is now called upon to act and especially the United Nations, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, the European Union and the United States to force their partner to comply with its legal obligations. There must be no hesitation. 

EU Turkey Civic Commission
www.eutcc.net
Twitter: @EUTCC1
Facebook: Eu Turkey Civic Commission

STOP TURKEY’S ILLEGAL AND INHUMANE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS

On 18 October 2022, footage of HPG fighters was released showing symptoms consistent with lethal poisoning by chemical agents.  
Only a few days earlier, Dr. Jan van Aken and Dr. Beppe Savary-Borioli, who had investigated allegations of chemical weapons use by Turkey in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on behalf of The International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Germany and Switzerland, published their report. In it, they call for a further investigation by international organisations. 
The use of chemical weapons is prohibited and constitutes a war crime. 
Turkey is a member of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), NATO and the Council of Europe, and an EU candidate country. With the recordings now released, an investigation is inevitable. 
The EUTCC call on the above-mentioned institutions and their member states to fulfil their responsibilities immediately. Kariane Westrheim  Chair of EU Turkey Civic Commission    Dersim Dağdeviren Board  member of EU Turkey Civic Commission 
Links:Footagehttps://firatnews.com/kurdIstan/kimyasal-silaha-maruz-kalan-iki-gerillanin-goruntuleri-176528
IPPNW Report https://www.ippnw.de/presse/artikel/de/ippnw-veroeffentlicht-bericht-zu-chem.html

EU Turkey Civic Commission
www.eutcc.net
Twitter: @EUTCC1
Facebook: Eu Turkey Civic Commission

Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards Prof. Kariane Westrheim 

Statement by Save the children on Turkey’s attacks in Northern Syria The latest casualties in an upsurge of violence which has killed at least 13 children and injured an additional 27 this month, says Save the Children.
https://www.savethechildren.net/news/northern-syria-surge-violence-leaves-40-children-killed-or-injured-month

The SNA Encyclopedia: A Guide to the Turkish Proxy MilitiasThis report is a compilation of open-source information about the current state of the SNA militias active in the Turkish-occupied territories of Syria (as of August 2022).
https://rojavainformationcenter.com/2022/08/the-sna-encyclopedia-a-guide-to-the-turkish-proxy-militias/

Report by Iraq Body Count in cooperation with an international NGO coalition led from the Iraq Civil Society Solidarity on the civilian casualties of bombing by Turkey in Northern Iraq from 2015-2021The increasing harm that the Turkish Military’s crossborder operations in northern Iraq are causing to the civilian population is an issue of concern. It requires joint actions to be taken on local, regional, and international levels. 
bit.ly/3R4SS3u

Human Rights Watch issued a Q&A document that focuses on Turkey’s threatened military incursion to parts of northern SyriaKey Concerns Include Unlawful Attacks, Worsening Humanitarian Conditions, ISIS Resurgence
https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/17/turkey/syria-civilians-risk-northern-syria

EU Turkey Civic Commission
www.eutcc.net
Twitter: @EUTCC1
Facebook: Eu Turkey Civic Commission

EUTCC Conferences & Political realities in the context of EU, Turkey, Middle East & the Kurds then & now

Speakers: EUTCC board members Prof. K. Westrheim, Norway & Prof. M. Gunter, US Moderator: Dr. J. Miley, EUTCC board member, UK 

EUTCC Interview (German):

EUTCC Conferences & EU – Turkey Relations 19.01.2021Speakers: HDP MP & former MEP Feleknas Uca, Turkey, former MEP and chair of The Left Gabi Zimmer, Germany & former MEP Jürgen Klute, Germany Moderator: Dersim Dağdeviren, EUTCC board member 

https://youtu.be/efdvqOWfx30

First EUTCC Roundtable Debate

The US, Turkey and the Middle East: continuities,  challenges and options26.01.2021Speakers: HDP MP Hişyar Özsoy, Representative of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria to the US Sinam Mohamad & former CIA official Graham E. Fuller Introduction and moderation: EUTCC Secretary-General Michael Gunter, US

https://youtu.be/JMTohMp7KYI

EUTCC Interview: 

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Turkey and the Kurds 02.02.2021Speakers: PPT President Dr. Philippe Texier, France, & PPT Secretary-General Dr. Gianni Tognoni, ItalyModerator: Fréderike Geerdink, journalist, Netherlands 

https://youtu.be/bwzpq3AKLdA

EU Turkey Civic Commission
www.eutcc.net
Twitter: @EUTCC1
Facebook: Eu Turkey Civic Commission

The European Council imposed limited sanctions on Turkey in relation to its resumption of oil and gas drilling in EU member states’ territorial waters. In a press release from last Friday, December 11, the European leaders condemn Turkey’s provocative activities and escalated rhetoric against the European Union, its member states and European leaders.

Though on a collision course for several years already, Turkey’s president Erdogan had further escalated his rhetoric against several EU member states over the last few months. He boasted about Turkey’s military power to change the map with Greece and Cyprus and said the French President Emmanuel Macron needed mental health treatment.

It is expected that in the coming weeks the EU sanctions regime against Turkey will include additional individuals and companies from Turkey’s energy sector involved in oil and gas drilling in Greek and Cypriote territorial waters. In a first response, Turkey’s ruling party’s spokesman Ömer Çelik wrote on Twitter that the European Council’s decisions are biased and unlawful.

Though at first sight the conclusions of the European Council’s meeting suggest the EU leader showed their muscles, the same leaders reaffirmed in the same conclusions their political determination and financial commitment to continue the so-called refugee deal with Turkey. Referred to as financial assistance to Syrian refugees and host communities in Turkey, the refugee deal gave Erdogan access to much needed EU billions to soothe discontent with his mismanagement of Turkey’s economy. Moreover, the continuation of the deal emboldens the Turkish president in using Syrian refugees as a bargaining chip to blackmail the EU. The EUTCC strongly emphasize that Erdogan’s expanionist strategy itself is causing refugees.

Yet that not being said could well be the most important part of the conclusions of the European Council. Turkey’s further regression into a ‘zero rule of law’ presidential system, its hostage holding of politicians, among them the co-chairs, members of parliament and mayors of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party HDP, the full-fledged assault on civil society and independent media remain unmentioned. The European Council is also silent about Turkey’s unlawful occupation and war crimes in Afrin and parts of Jazire in Northern Syria and the ongoing attacks against the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF, and its military interventions in Northern Iraq – all part of Turkey’s destructive military approach to the Kurdish issue. The recruitment of Jihadi fighters in Syria to fight proxy wars in Libya and more recently Nagorno Karabagh also go unmentioned.

The European Council’s silence about all such issues a flagrant contradiction to the democratic values and the rule of law on which the council says the EU is grounded and encourages Erdogan to continue his destructive path chosen.

On behalf of the EUTCC board

Kariane Westrheim, Chairperson
Dersim Dağdeviren, Board Member

EU Turkey Civic Commission
www.eutcc.net
Twitter: @EUTCC1
Facebook: Eu Turkey Civic Commission