BRUSSELS, Belgium – MPs in Europe and the European Parliament are appealing for pressure on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Ankara to return to negotiations to end deadly clashes that some warn will endanger November’s re-election in Turkey.
On Tuesday, following an initiative of The Greens/European Free Alliance, five blocs in the European Parliament warned that a re-ignited war between the PKK and Ankara in late July could undermine Turkey’s democratic achievements.
“A lot has been achieved to further democracy in Turkey,” said a statement backed by the five blocs. ”But all these achievements are now in danger due to the recent violence,” warned the statement, signed by the EPP, S&D, Liberal, GUE/NG, and The Greens/EFA.
”It is only through political means that all ethnic and religious groups in Turkey can live peacefully side-by-side,” the statement added, calling on EU leaders to act immediately with “all possible means to achieve an end to the violence.”
Tensions between Ankara and the PKK reached a boiling point after the government imposed a curfew early this month in the Cizre district of the country’s southeastern Kurdish Sirnak province. According to the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) more than 20 civilians, including children, have been killed by Turkish soldiers. The Turkish interior ministry has said 32 PKK rebels were killed.
Jean Lambert, Green Member of the European Parliament for London, told Rudaw that she and a number of other MEPs have written to the EU head of foreign affairs, Federica Morgherini, to express concern about the consequences of the curfew in Cizre, which was lifted on Monday.
Photographs of a child, who was killed in the military operation in Cizre but whose body had to be kept for days in the family freezer because the curfew prevented burial, caused outrage among the public, opposition politicians and human rights activists.
Lambert warned that Turkey’s November 1 polls, being held again after an inconclusive election in June, would be the first in many years under warlike conditions.
“We want the EU to make clear to the Turkish authorities that if peace is not restored quickly the results of the elections will be called into question,” Lambert said. “How can it be free and fair, when parties cannot campaign and their offices are attacked?”
In their letter, the MEPs urged Mogherini to take action on behalf of the EU.
Meanwhile, MPs in Sweden have sent a letter to Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, noting attacks in Turkey on the offices of the pro-Kurdish HDP and on businesses owned by Kurds.
”In this situation, Europe and the EU can’t remain in silence,” said the letter, an initiative by Amineh Kakabaveh, a Swedish MP of Iranian-Kurdish origin. It called for pressure on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
”Sharp criticism must be directed against President Erdogan, challenging policies that aggravate and deepen the crisis in the Middle East,” the letter urged. It also asked what Sweden and the EU intend to do to get both sides back to the negotiating table and resume a two-year truce shattered by the ongoing conflict.
British MEP Charles Tannock urged that Turkey be punished by the international community for what it did in Cizre.
“If the Turkish armed forces have violated domestic or international norms, used disproportionate force -- including violating Turkish legal obligations under the European Convention of Human Rights -- there could well be serious consequences,” he told Rudaw.
Turkey is a candidate to join the EU, receiving sums of pre-accession funds.
”These can be suspended as a last resort by the EU,” Tannock warned.
Martin Lidegaard, the former foreign minister of Denmark, expressed his concern.
“The reports from Cizre are deeply disturbing," he told Rudaw, urging an investigation. "The public must get an insight into what is going on in Cizre."
He pointed out that "both sides have a responsibility to stop the violence” and now resume negotiations.
Turkish authorities have said they conducted an anti-terror operation against the PKK, claiming there have been no civilian casualties.
