Prof. Kariane Westrheim, EUTCC Chairperson and Dersim Dagdeviren, EUTCC Board, wrote to the UN Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres, a letter saying that  "on the occasion of the meeting between U.S. President Biden and his Turkish counterpart Erdoğan on the sidelines of the NATO summit and the attack on the Makhmour refugee camp, the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) held an emergency debate on 13 June 2021 entitled 'US - Turkey Relations: The Maxmur Refugee Camp as a Litmus Test in the Context of Human Rights and International Law versus Interest Politics'."

The letter added: "Relations between the two politicians seemed strained recently. Already during the election campaign, Biden announced a tougher course against Turkey and called Erdoğan an autocrat. Added to this is the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the U.S. president.

In the context of these tensions, reference was made to Turkey's invasion of the territory of the Kurdistan Regional Government - Iraq which is contrary to international law. Turkey maintains dozens of military bases there. The Maxmur refugee camp was recently also targeted by Turkish attacks. Nearly 12,000 people who were expelled from the Kurdish areas of Turkey in the 1990s live here. On 5 May 2021, a Turkish drone struck in front of a playground, killing three people. Already a year ago, 3 women were killed in a Turkish attack on the camp."

The letter continued: "The EU Turkey Civic Commission calls upon the United Nations

- to fulfil their obligations to the Maxmur camp

- to implement their own regulations based on the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 protocol for the protection of the camp

- to impose sanctions against Turkey for violating international law and committing war crimes

- to put pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government to lift the embargo on the refugee camp

In times of the pandemic this is even more important. In this context, you have repeatedly referred to the precarious situation of refugees and the need for peaceful conflict resolution. We fully endorse these demands.

We hope that you as United Nations Secretary-General will step up your efforts to support the interests of the people in the Maxmur refugee camp and, along with it, find a political solution to the Kurdish question which is crucial for peace in the entire Middle East."