Kurdish institutions in Switzerland will organize a march in Geneva tomorrow to urge international institutions to "take action" against the Turkish use of chemical weapons against guerrilla troops in the Medya Defence Zones. The Swiss Democratic Kurdish Council (CDK-S) and the Swiss Kurdish Women's Union (YJK-S) released a statement on the rally outside the UN headquarters following a march set to kick off from Parc des Croppettes at 14:00 on November 30.

'THE DEFEATED TURKISH STATE RESORTED TO CHEMICAL WEAPONS'

“As technological advancement gained momentum in the 19th century and afterwards, humanity leaped forwards constantly under the motto of 'progress',” the statement noted.

“In the middle of the 20th century, this technological and scientific progress favoured the interests of Capitalist Modernity through the arms industry. Governments have entered into an arms race, wasting trillions of dollars of welfare funds. Atomic bombs were developed and used towards the end of the Second World War. History has witnessed how 'progress' led humanity to a dead end, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed by chemical weapons,” said the statement, which continued:

“The Kurdish people, who have continued their freedom struggle throughout history, were also subjected to chemical weapons. Colonist powers have repeatedly used chemical weapons against the Kurdish people, especially in Halabja.

The invading Turkish state and its collaborators, who are facing repeated defeats in the face of outstanding resistance by the Freedom Guerrillas and the Kurdish Movement, are continuing to use banned and chemical weapons to cover up their defeats and win the war.

The genocidal attacks against our Freedom Movement and our guerrillas are currently carried out with chemical weapons. It is upsetting that the entire world public opinion and all relevant institutions have remained silent, which implies their cooperation with the Turkish attacks.

CALL FOR PROTEST

The institutions and organizations of Capitalist Modernity, which declared the days between November 28 and December 2 as the 'Days of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare', keep ignoring the atrocities suffered in Kurdistan.

In order to bring up the atrocities in Kurdistan onto the agenda at the regular meetings to be held by the OPCW and to make our voices heard globally on the 'Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare', we urge all Kurdish people living in Switzerland, their friends and those who are opposed to this brutality to participate in our demonstration on November 30.

We call on everyone to fulfill their responsibilities in order not to be a partner to the Turkish atrocity and to make our voice heard globally. We expect the OPCW and its member states to take a stance against the Turkish use of chemical weapons.”