Renowned human’s rights activist Margaret Owen condemned Turkey’s support for the recent attacks by the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian National Army (SNA) in Syria and emphasised the importance of the freedom of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan to fulfil his role in negotiations for lasting peace in the Middle East.
In the interview, conducted by Hîvda Çelebî from Mezopotamya Ajansi, Owen expressed her condolences with the almost 200.000 refugees being forced to flee from the Shahba (Şehba) region, the majority of them having fled from the Afrin (Efrîn) region in northern Syria, which has been under Turkish occupation since 2018.
Owen highlighted the “ISIS style human rights abuses” committed by the HTS forces, saying that there are many reports of torture and sex slavery being committed by the HTS. She puts special attention on the reported kidnapping of Women’s Protection Unit’s (YPJ) fighters, saying that “these are the bravest of brave women, and it is agonising to learn that yet again they are being slain, captured, and tortured”.
“Whilst the world’s spotlight is on Gaza, Lebanon and the Ukraine, Dictator Erdoğan is intent on pursuing his genocidal attacks on the Kurds in Syria as well as in Turkey,” Owen added, and said that this silence of the international community can be explained with the fact that many countries, such as the UK and Germany, are continuing to sell arms to Turkey.
She also shed lights on the reasons for Turkey’s support for jihadist militias in Syria, saying that Erdoğan’s entry to Syria was “to exterminate its Kurds and to destroy altogether the democratic AANES [Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria].” Owen continued, stating “Turkey itself under Erdoğan is a terrorist nation” and “Erdoğan is as misogynist as he is racist”. She highlighted that “Injured ISIS fighters are treated and nursed back to health in Turkish hospitals” and that Turkey has committed war crimes such as “cutting off water, using chemical weapons, specifically targeting and murdering women’s rights activists through drones and snipers”.
Appealing to the United Nations, Owen said that she wishes that the UN recognises the AANES, but also made clear that “the UN seems to have lost all credibility or influence in recent years [as] several member states are violating international human rights and humanitarian laws with absolute impunity”.
Margaret Owen referred to Abdullah Öcalan as “the Kurds’ Mandela”, highlighting that in his writings, Öcalan has focused “on political not military solutions to the present conflict” and that he wants “freedom and justice for all the peoples of Syria”.
One of the regions where Öcalan’s proposals for an alternative social model called democratic confederalism are being put into practice is the AANES, where “women have real equality”, according to Owen. She also highlighted the role of the YPJ in the ongoing conflict, saying that they have “fought alongside men to liberate towns and villages from ISIS occupation [and] many have been martyred in these battles”.
Margaret Owen also drew attention to the fact that many people will be displaced and become refugees following the recent escalation of war in Syria and will “seek safety in Europe”. She highlighted that these refugees should be welcomed in Europe as “it is not a crime to be a refugee”, but “an accident of birth”. “We could all be refugees”, she emphasised.
Commenting on the relation between the United Kingdom and Turkey, Owen said that the UK is “guilty of Turkey’s work on the streets of London” by treating “Kurdish peace activists as if they were terrorists.” Referring to the recent police raid against the Kurdish Community Centre (KCC) in London, she said that besides the raid against the KCC, “Kurdish homes were broken into, women and children beaten up by our armed police”.
“This is unforgivable. Our government is serving Turkish intelligence,” Owen said and emphasised her stance against these actions by saying “human rights activists and lawyers like me will be standing up for Kurdish people, and protesting as loudly as we can that this servility must stop.”
