Dersim Dağdeviren, member of the European Union Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) called on the EU to remove the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations during the 17th EUTCC conference at the European Parliament on Wednesday.
“Anyone who is serious about feminist foreign policy, that is, foreign policy based on peace-building measures, anyone who is truly convinced of Jin Jiyan Azadi (“Woman Life Freedom”), cannot persist in criminalising the authors of this slogan,” Dağdeviren said.
Dağdeviren also called on Europe to take a more active role in addressing the Kurdish issue. “After all, Kurds form one of the largest migration communities in Europe. Europe, the safe haven? Certainly not, neither for all the refugees drowning in the sea at the gates of Europe, nor for Kurds standing up for their rights,” she said.
The EUTCC member also condemned Turkey for the disaster response after the 6 February earthquakes devastated 10 provinces with significant Kurdish and Arab populations, as well as cities in northern Syria.
“(Turkey) has no soldiers for disaster relief in the earthquake zone, but it does for attacks against Kurds within the country and across borders in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in Shengal, and in northern Syria,” Dağdeviren said. “They bombed the latter a few hours after the earthquake.”
The earthquake was not the only reason for the destruction, she continued. “Is this the result of (Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s) autocratic policies? Also, but not only.”
Dağdeviren also mentioned Kurdish forces’ accusations that Turkey’s armed forces have been using banned chemicals against them in operations. “Is international law not universal after all?” she asked.