Never before has Turkey committed more war crimes than in 2022. The international focus on the war in Ukraine and on the regional threat of a new Turkish attack on the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria cannot negate the fact that Turkey's operation 'Claw Lock ' in North Iraq has led to hundreds of cases of war crimes, including the intensive use of chemical weapons.

The Committee Against the Use of Chemical Weapons in South Kurdistan has published a new report called "Turkey's use of chemical weapons in South Kurdistan continues. Why is the OPCW not acting against the use of banned weapons?"

While international attention and media coverage has helped corroborate Turkey ́s involvement in the death of dozens of civilians in South Kurdistan [North Iraq], the repeated accusations of Kurdish representatives regarding the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish army have not yet led to the necessary investigations of international organizations and institutions such as the OPCW.

This failure to act and officially clarify these drastic allegations has allowed Turkey to not only continue but even increase its war crimes in the wake of its heavy attacks on South Kurdistan. When it comes to the use of chemical weapons, the international community should not leave the smallest doubt that it takes these extremely concerning allegations very seriously. Increased media coverage, on-site visits by delegations and official investigations are therefore urgently needed to show Turkey that it cannot continue committing war crimes with impunity."

Danger of International Silence and Concessions

In a chapter called "Danger of International Silence and Concessions", the report said: "In recent years, the international community has proven repeatedly that it cares greatly about any allegation concerning the use of chemical weapons. In the case of the war in Syria that has been raging for more than 10 years, but also in the course of the more recent war in Ukraine, reports about the possible use of chemical weapons have led to broad media attention and international investigations. The same is now necessary with regards to Turkey ́s attacks on South Kurdistan. Delegations comprised of chemical weapons experts need to urgently visit the affected areas and international investigations need to be started. If the international community continues to fail to live up to its responsibility and does not make use of its expertise, e.g. that of the OPCW, it will allow Turkey to carry out even more war crimes against the civilian population of South Kurdistan and the guerrilla forces based there.

Turkey's recent attack on the village Perex in the South Kurdish Zaxo area in which 9 civilians were killed and 23 wounded clearly shows that Turkey has been heartened by the silence of the international community and thinks that it has been given a green light to commit war crimes wherever it wants. (56) The unfortunate result of this silence will be complicity in Turkey ́s war crimes. Instead of giving in to Turkish pressure as was the case with Finland ́s and Sweden's admission to NATO, the international community needs to take the allegations of the use of chemical weapons seriously, have experts look into the matter and put pressure on Turkey to stop committing war crimes in South Kurdistan."