The Germany-wide umbrella organisation of Kurdish associations KON-MED has presented an action plan for Saturday's demonstrations against Turkey's use of outlawed chemical weapons in Southern Kurdistan (Kurdistan Region of Iraq). The actions are planned in seven cities, KON-MED said, including the capital Berlin as well as Hamburg and Cologne. The Kurdish community, its supporters and all those who want to send a signal against the "genocide against the Kurds" are called upon to participate in the protests.

"There is no other way than resistance against this fascist regime that wants to wipe out the existence of the Kurdish people. It is the duty to take the heavy responsibility that the unprecedented guerrilla resistance demands. This means taking to the streets everywhere and reminding the international community, which "uses democracy and human rights as a meaningless figurehead in the case of the Kurds", of its duties and demanding immediate and effective action against the war crimes of the Turkish state in Kurdistan. The war imposed on us is a fight to be or not to be. We must be the voice for the resistance of those who created the achievements of the Kurdish people out of nothing. Tomorrow may be too late for all of us,” KON-MED stated.

The Turkish state's large-scale invasion of Southern Kurdistan has been ongoing since April. The focus of the occupation attack is primarily the Medya Defence Zones, which are controlled by the guerrillas. For months, the People's Defence Forces (HPG) and other Kurdish organisations have been reporting chemical weapons use by the Turkish army, which has been escalating for weeks. Dozens of guerrillas have already lost their lives as a result of chemical weapons, and civilian settlements in the mountainous regions of southern Kurdistan are also affected by the use of these weapons of war. Recently, the medical peace organisation IPPNW also drew attention to Turkish chemical weapons use in Kurdistan, but the Western community of states and its organisations ignore indications and demands for international investigations.

"As KON-MED, we do not accept that obvious war crimes against Kurds are ignored and that those responsible in the ranks of the Turkish state are not held accountable," the umbrella organisation said. "In front of the eyes of the world, massacres of the Kurdish population are taking place with the help of supposedly outlawed weapons. But the self-proclaimed community of values of the West, including the Federal Republic of Germany, turns a deaf ear, a mute ear and a blind eye and gives the Turkish aggressor a free pass for crimes against the Kurdish people. We call on Kurdish society and all other people with a conscience to take to the streets in a spirit of mobilisation. Let us demand accountability, denounce war crimes and insist on respect for the rules of international humanitarian law of war that are existential for all of us."

ACTION PLAN

Demonstrations and rallies are planned in the following cities:

Berlin: Siegessäule / Straße des 17. Juni, 1:30 p.m.

Darmstadt: Central Station, 14:00 hrs

Hamburg: Mönckebergstraße, 15:30 hrs

Cologne: Ebertplatz, 2:00 p.m.

Munich: Sendlinger-Tor-Platz, 4:00 p.m.

Oldenburg: Central Station, 5:00 p.m.

Stuttgart: Lautenschlagerstraße, 3:00 p.m.