Releasing a statement to mark the 1st September International Peace Day, Human Rights Association (IHD) Amed branch voiced concerns over the execution of civilians by state forces and emphasized that the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan wanted peace, not war.

The statement stressed that the war was “a chaotic environment that buried the light and hopes”, adding; “Those who believe they can solve the social problems by means of war and conflict are mistaken as the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan want peace and demonstrate a will to live together and carry the hope for it”.

Recalling that dozens of people have lost their lives during the past two months of conflict in Turkey, IHD said they as human rights defenders felt the effects of the war closely and were deeply concerned and affected by the deaths in the present conflict environment. “Soldier, police, guerrillas and civilians are all the children of this country and have the right to live. To the parties of this war that has reintroduced the right violations and the conflict environment of 90's, we say loudly that we want peace, not war!”

Voicing particular concern over the killing of the civilians, IHD underlined that the civilians murdered by security forces in Silvan, Silopi, Cizre, Yüksekova and Varto were innocent and not a party to this war. The statement underlined that the attacks directed at civilians was a violation of their right to live and crime against humanity.

IHD offered condolences to the families of all the civilians who lost their lives, and called for an immediate investigation and legal action against those responsible for the killing of civilians in Cizre, Silvan, Yüksekova, Varto and Amed.