Hundreds of people have protested in Geneva against the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who is a guest at the 1st Global Refugee Forum hosted by UNHCR and the Swiss government.

In front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva, where the two-day forum takes place, numerous people protested against the invitation of Erdoğan, who is responsible for the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Syria. The protests were also directed against the UN and the international powers that allow the Turkish war crimes.

The activists held up images of children killed in the Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The banners and signs carried along read "Murderer Erdoğan" and " Erdoğan Not Welcome". A war crimes tribunal for Erdoğan was demanded in slogans.

Due to the protests, the main entrance to the UN building was closed. The police were on site with a large contingent.

Speeches criticized the invitation of Erdoğan to the refugee forum and referred to the mass expulsion in Northern Syria. Speakers said that inviting the Turkish head of the regime would be tantamount to recognition of his demonstrably illegal actions.

Salih Sağlam, the co-chairman of the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre in Geneva, spoke of a "black day for Switzerland" and declared that the invitation of Erdoğan as the person responsible for the extermination campaign against the Kurdish people deeply hurt hundreds of thousands of Kurds living in the country: "Erdoğan, who would have to stand trial for the massacres he committed, speaks for the refugees here today. This situation is an insult to the Kurdish people and amounts to approval for the crimes committed against the Kurds".

Yüksel Koç of the Kurdish umbrella organisation KCDK-E criticised as the next speaker: "Those who would have to hold Erdoğan accountable for his war crimes invite him to the refugee forum instead".

Speeches by the Geneva Rojava Committee and other alternative groups expressed solidarity with the Kurdish people and the Rojava Revolution. While humanity is being defended in Rojava, war criminals cannot be invited to Geneva, said the speakers.

"This city belongs to us, there is no place here for criminals and murderers," said one of the speakers.