“Our clients consider it a moral duty to bring charges for systematic war crimes in Turkey here in the Federal Republic [Germany] as is possible according to the Code on International Criminal Law,” said lawyers for the group, Britta Eder and Petra Dervishaj, in the complaint filed with the Federal Prosecutor.
The suit claims that Turkey committed war crimes in Kurdish areas of the country, particularly in the city of Cizre where civilians taking shelter in basements were found burned, some perhaps burned alive.
Desperate pleas were made by the people in the basements, some of whom were seriously wounded, but emergency personnel were blocked from entering the neighbourhoods by Turkish authorities.
In addition to Erdogan, the complaint also names former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Interior Minister Efkan Ala, other government officials as well as members of the military and police.
The group filing the suit includes actor Rolf Becker, songwriter Konstantin Wecker, Left Party lawmaker Ulla Jelpke as well as other members of the Left Party, lawyers and human rights representatives. Lawyers for the group say that two survivors of war crimes in Turkey and a Turkish MP from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) are also included in the suit.
Jelpke said Germany needs to put pressure on Erdogan rather than being afraid to jeopardize the EU-Turkey migrant deal.
Under German law, it is possible to file a suit in domestic courts for crimes committed outside of German territory. “The purpose of this principle is to prevent war crimes and crimes against humanity from going unpunished, no matter where the crime is committed,” the lawyers filing the suit stated.
Turkey has instituted a series of military curfews on Kurdish cities and towns in what it claims are operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey, the European Union, and the United States have all named as a terrorist organization. Rights activists have accused Turkey of using disproportionate force and have reported the deaths of hundreds of civilians with hundreds of thousands being displaced.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, described reports of violations committed by the Turkish military “extremely alarming” in early May. He called for an investigation and prosecution of those suspected to be involved in disproportionate use of lethal force, extrajudicial killings, and violations of the right to life.
Relations between Turkey and Germany have soured after the German parliament passed a resolution in early June recognizing the massacre of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire as genocide. Ankara recalled its ambassador to Germany after the vote.
