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An international platform is calling for donations to supply gas masks to Kurdish fighters defending their homeland in northern Iraq from Turkey’s cross-border Operation Claw-Lock.
The RiseUp4Rojava platform announced its donation drive in a Twitter thread, saying the gas masks were needed to protect guerrillas from “banned chemical weapons” used by Turkish forces.
“In a propaganda clip released by the Turkish Ministry of Defence in July, Turkish soldiers can be seen inserting tubes into what appears to be a tunnel entrance,” the platform said. “Turkey is committing war crimes in plain sight!”
Ankara says Operation Claw-Lock, launched in April, aims to clear Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants away from areas near the Iraqi-Turkish border. Turkey’s war against the PKK has continued since the Kurdish organisation launched an armed struggle for self-rule in 1984.
After a spell of peace negotiations starting in 2013, Turkey’s Islamic nationalist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government resumed its fight against Kurdish militants in Turkey in 2015. In the years since, the Turkish military has ramped up its operations with several cross-border campaigns against PKK affiliates in Syria and Iraq.
The PKK’s armed wing, the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) says Turkey has routinely used chemical weapons during its latest incursions in Iraq.
Last year, the HPG said that Turkish forces had used chemical weapons more than 300 times. One press report said that around 550 locals had sought medical treatment for symptoms consistent with the effect of chemical weapons after a Turkish airstrike near their village.
Despite the consistent reports from Iraqi Kurdistan, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has made no move to launch an investigation, prompting condemnation from civil society groups, activists and politicians. Last week, British MP Russel Moyle criticised the OPCW, saying that the reports of chemical weapons usage “must be investigated” and that it was crucial to “give voice to the Kurdish people over the issue.”
And, with international organisations making no effort to investigate the reports of Turkey employing chemical weapons and the press ignoring circumstantial evidence that supports these claims, RiseUp4Rojava said an international backlash and neutral observers were the only way to prevent more chemical attacks.
The platform did not provide a link for donations, but can be contacted through its website.
