The Turkish state's attacks on civilians and cemeteries of Kurdish guerrillas continue drawing worldwide reactions.

The Germany-based Internationalist Friends of Andrea Wolf/Ronahî group has released a statement condemning the attacks which they described as a war crime, and called upon Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish army to immediately end these war crimes in Kurdistan.

Pointing to the war launched by AKP against HDP and the Kurdish people, the statement recalled that Turkish Interior Minister has recently sent to governors in the Kurdish region an instruction for the demolition of 14 martyrs' cemeteries in Northern Kurdistan, upon which Turkish aircraft bombed the cemetery of guerrillas in Varto district of Muş. During the same day -the statement noted- Turkish army started an operation for the demolition of the martyrs' cemetery in the rural area of Çatak district of Wan/Keleh city, commenting on this instruction as an open confession of the war crime committed by the Minister in accordance with the principles of international laws.

The statement said it also constituted a war crime that Turkish state forces have recently shelled settlements in Northern and Southern Kurdistan, deliberately massacred civilians and burned forested and agricultural areas upon the instruction of Turkish President Erdoğan. The statement also voiced a strong criticism towards NATO for remaining silent in the face of all these developments.

'TURKEY OBSTRUCTS A PEACEFUL SOLUTION'

Internationalist Friends of Andrea Wolf/Ronahî group reminded that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan started a war against the Kurdish freedom movement and people for fear of losing the power after HDP's success in June 7 election, adding; “In addition to the civil war going on in Syria for four years and the war in Iraq, the Middle East disaster has been deepened by the Turkish state's attacks against the democratic self-rule declaration of the Kurdish people and the Turkey left. Besides supporting ISIS against the self-governance in Rojava, Turkey now re-starts the civil war within its boundaries and obstructs a peaceful solution aiming an end to the war in the Kurdish region. In this way, Turkey aims to annihilate the Kurdish freedom movement and Rojava that could create an egalitarian societal model for the peoples of the region that involves all circles and faith groups. Our hearts are with the people who are shielding the martyrs' cemeteries with their bodies, renovate them and hold vigil against threats targeting the memories of martyrs.”

'GERMANY MUST REMOVE THE BAN ON PKK'

Internationalist Friends of Andrea Wolf listed the following calls in order for the ending of the ongoing war;

- Attacks on the Kurdish people must be stopped immediately.

- Turkish army must put an immediate end to bombardments against the nature, cities, villages and martyrs' cemeteries, which all constitute a violation of international laws.

- All political prisoners must be released.

- Light must be shed on war crimes and perpetrators must be punished.

- The German government must immediately stop supporting Erdoğan in his war against the Kurdish freedom movement.

- Status of Rojava must be recognized in international area and a humanitarian corridor must be opened into Western Kurdistan.

- Germany must immediately remove the ban on PKK.

- Perpetrators of torture and murders in Kurdistan must be put on trial like what was done in Argentine, Guatemala and Chile.

BACKGROUND

Andrew Wolf alongside 40 PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) militants were murdered and buried in the village of Andiçen (Kelahêrê) in Van's Çatak district by the Turkish army in a massacre on 23rd October 1998.

According to information gathered to date, in 1998 the German internationalist Andrea Wolf in the Kurdish women’s army (YAJK), together with her Kurdish comrades, were taken prisoner by the Turkish army following a skirmish in this area. According to witnesses’ statements, as an unarmed prisoner, she was tortured and extralegally executed along with at least two other combatants – the victims’ corpses were subsequently further abused and mutilated.

Dozens of combatants were apparently murdered in the skirmish and the following massacre.
The execution by shooting of the defenceless prisoners confirms the elements of the offence as murder according to international law. The killing of already disarmed prisoners – as well as those unable to fight – is a blatant contravention against all criteria of international law and, according to the Geneva Convention, a war crime – and this is equally true for the torture of prisoners. This applies equally to the systematically applied methods of sexual torture used by the Turkish army, which officers in particular learn in the training camps of western secret services as a means of subjugation, humiliation, power-demonstration, destruction and debasement of women, but also of men, which does not yield to the containment of state-legitimised oppression. War crimes also include the utilization of poison gas by the Turkish military against combatants of the Kurdish guerrilla and against the civilian population, according to independent research.