"Forbidden by the constitution to stand for re-election in 2023, accused of corruption, having lost part of his electorate, the President is trying, like many autocrats, to recover it by stirring up the threat of a terrorist enemy from within."
The Europe Ecology – The Greens (French: Europe Écologie Les Verts, EELV) released a statement calling on the EU and the international community to condemn all the attacks, both from Turkey and Iran, and to commit to the protection of the Kurdish people in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey.
The statement by Chloé Sagaspe and Alain Coulombel, spokespersons of the EELV Transnational Commission, includes the following:
“On 20 November, Turkey attacked Kurdish Rojava, an autonomous region in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan.
Bombing raids were carried out in the Shebba region, where the inhabitants of Afrin (occupied by the Turkish army), Kobane (of sad memory), Dérik Dahir al-Arab and the Qandil and Asos mountains in northern Iraq are refugees.
They target civilian populations in northern Syria, hospitals, schools and granaries.
At the same time, the repression in Iran, which has been in the grip of a massive revolt for the past two months, has fallen heavily on Iranian Kurdistan, which has announced its intention to carry out attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The regime of R. Erdogan used as a pretext the criminal attack of November 13, in the centre of Istanbul, which it immediately attributed to the Kurds without any proof. The Kurds denied this and strongly condemned it.
EElV condemns the Taksim attack and calls for an impartial investigation to find the perpetrators.
EELV denounces attacks that have no basis, kill civilians and starve entire regions already hard hit by the Daesh years.
EELV recalls that it is precisely the Kurds who have been at the forefront of the fight against the barbarity of the Islamic State.
EELV hypothesises that the resurgence of violence in Turkey towards the Kurds is linked to the dramatic economic, social and environmental situation that the population is experiencing. Forbidden by the constitution to stand for re-election in 2023, accused of corruption, having lost part of his electorate, the President is trying, like many autocrats, to recover it by stirring up the threat of a terrorist "enemy from within".
For EELV, it would be indefensible that the financial (and amoral) agreements signed with the EU to block migrants, or Turkey's participation in NATO, or its new role as mediator between Ukraine and Russia, would allow Recep Erdogan to commit crimes and flout international laws.
EELV calls on the EU and the international community to condemn all these attacks, both from Turkey and Iran, and to commit to the protection of the Kurdish people in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey.”
