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This week marks the 30th anniversary of Baghdad’s chemical weapons attacks on the civilians of Halabja. Commemorations are being held at the same time that the city of Afrin city is being attacked by Turkish forces and their mostly-Jihadi Syrian mercenaries. Afrin remains under intense aerial and artillery bombardment while Turkish officials have the smug audacity to deny any civilian casualties of their operation.
It therefore seems apropos to remember the reaction of various governments around the world to the Halabja attacks. Officials government spokespeople in the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Russia and the Arab world all ignored Saddam’s actions against the Kurds of Iraq. Iraq was too important a state, an ally against Iran, to alienate. Kuwait officials even went so far as to say that Kurdish claims were just an effort to distract the world’s attention from the Palestinian Intifadah going on at the same time (the Kuwaitis’ view of Saddam’s regime changed markedly after Iraq’s invasion of August 1990, of course).
Parliamentarians across the Western world — especially opposition members of parliament but also many from ruling parties — did speak up about what the Iraqi government was doing in Halabja and elsewhere across Iraqi Kurdistan. In the US Senate, Peter Galbraith led successful efforts to pass very extensive sanctions against Iraq. However, under pressure from the American wheat board (which sold a lot of wheat to Iraq) and considerations of realpolitik (Baghdad was at war with Iran at the time), the Reagan administration vetoed sanctions against Saddam.
So it seems with Afrin today. In the British Parliament one can watch Labour MPs eloquently and passionately argue that the United Kingdom must speak out about the unjustified Turkish invasion of Afrin and cease weapons to a “murderous dictator” in Ankara. In the Netherlands, socialist MPs talk about how “international political leaders fail miserably” by turning their gaze away from Turkey’s actions in Afrin. In France, 39 senators from all political parties urged their government to support the Kurds in Afrin against the Turkish president’s “authoritarian regime” and his “unacceptable attack, a severe violation of international law and a serious threat on the region’s peace and stability.” In the United States, growing numbers of senators and congressmen from both parties now call for sanctions on Turkey because of its attacks in Afrin. The European Parliament this week also finally passed a resolution calling for Turkey to end its operation in Afrin and withdraw from the area.
The result of all this recognition of what is happening in Afrin does not add up to much government action, just like 30 years ago in Halabja. None of the EU member states backed up their European Parliament’s vote with anything substantive – such as their own strong language or sanctions. Instead the EU disbursed some €3 billion to Turkey to continue its efforts to stop refugees from going to Europe. Britain and others (except perhaps Germany) seem keen on continuing arms sales to Turkey, even as President Erdogan taunts them with statements such as “The European Parliament has nothing to say to Turkey and whatever it has to say on this issue will go through one ear and out the other.”
In the United States, the State Department and White House, cannot even bring itself to condemn the invasion of Afrin. Instead, State Department officials (or ex-officials) shuttle to Ankara to appease Mr. Erdogan and his government, pleading with Turkey to “be careful” and issuing vague statements about how they wish to avoid anything that “detracts from the fight against ISIS.” Somehow the Russian approach of not pretending to care much about civilians and responding to Turkish threats with much graver threats of their own seems a good deal more honest and less obsequiously craven.
The approach of foreign ministries across the Western world to this issue, just like 30 years ago, is nothing short of disgusting. As the statement from France’s 39 honest senators reminds us, there have been no threats or attacks against Turkey from Afrin, and thousands of Kurdish and Arab civilians’ lives are at risk due to Turkish attacks. In the words of these senators, the Turkish invasion attempt is “an unacceptable attack, a severe violation of international law and a serious threat on the region’s peace and stability.”
David Romano has been a Rudaw columnist since 2010. He holds the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University and is the author of numerous publications on the Kurds and the Middle East.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
It therefore seems apropos to remember the reaction of various governments around the world to the Halabja attacks. Officials government spokespeople in the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Russia and the Arab world all ignored Saddam’s actions against the Kurds of Iraq. Iraq was too important a state, an ally against Iran, to alienate. Kuwait officials even went so far as to say that Kurdish claims were just an effort to distract the world’s attention from the Palestinian Intifadah going on at the same time (the Kuwaitis’ view of Saddam’s regime changed markedly after Iraq’s invasion of August 1990, of course).
Parliamentarians across the Western world — especially opposition members of parliament but also many from ruling parties — did speak up about what the Iraqi government was doing in Halabja and elsewhere across Iraqi Kurdistan. In the US Senate, Peter Galbraith led successful efforts to pass very extensive sanctions against Iraq. However, under pressure from the American wheat board (which sold a lot of wheat to Iraq) and considerations of realpolitik (Baghdad was at war with Iran at the time), the Reagan administration vetoed sanctions against Saddam.
So it seems with Afrin today. In the British Parliament one can watch Labour MPs eloquently and passionately argue that the United Kingdom must speak out about the unjustified Turkish invasion of Afrin and cease weapons to a “murderous dictator” in Ankara. In the Netherlands, socialist MPs talk about how “international political leaders fail miserably” by turning their gaze away from Turkey’s actions in Afrin. In France, 39 senators from all political parties urged their government to support the Kurds in Afrin against the Turkish president’s “authoritarian regime” and his “unacceptable attack, a severe violation of international law and a serious threat on the region’s peace and stability.” In the United States, growing numbers of senators and congressmen from both parties now call for sanctions on Turkey because of its attacks in Afrin. The European Parliament this week also finally passed a resolution calling for Turkey to end its operation in Afrin and withdraw from the area.
The result of all this recognition of what is happening in Afrin does not add up to much government action, just like 30 years ago in Halabja. None of the EU member states backed up their European Parliament’s vote with anything substantive – such as their own strong language or sanctions. Instead the EU disbursed some €3 billion to Turkey to continue its efforts to stop refugees from going to Europe. Britain and others (except perhaps Germany) seem keen on continuing arms sales to Turkey, even as President Erdogan taunts them with statements such as “The European Parliament has nothing to say to Turkey and whatever it has to say on this issue will go through one ear and out the other.”
In the United States, the State Department and White House, cannot even bring itself to condemn the invasion of Afrin. Instead, State Department officials (or ex-officials) shuttle to Ankara to appease Mr. Erdogan and his government, pleading with Turkey to “be careful” and issuing vague statements about how they wish to avoid anything that “detracts from the fight against ISIS.” Somehow the Russian approach of not pretending to care much about civilians and responding to Turkish threats with much graver threats of their own seems a good deal more honest and less obsequiously craven.
The approach of foreign ministries across the Western world to this issue, just like 30 years ago, is nothing short of disgusting. As the statement from France’s 39 honest senators reminds us, there have been no threats or attacks against Turkey from Afrin, and thousands of Kurdish and Arab civilians’ lives are at risk due to Turkish attacks. In the words of these senators, the Turkish invasion attempt is “an unacceptable attack, a severe violation of international law and a serious threat on the region’s peace and stability.”
David Romano has been a Rudaw columnist since 2010. He holds the Thomas G. Strong Professor of Middle East Politics at Missouri State University and is the author of numerous publications on the Kurds and the Middle East.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
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