The European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress (KCDK-E) declared 12 November as the European day of strike against chemical weapons.
The Swiss Democratic Kurdish Council (CDK-S), an umbrella organisation of Kurdish institutions in Switzerland, called for participation to the march to be held in Düsseldorf, Germany on Saturday.
Kurds from Switzerland, Germany, northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands are expected to gather in the march. Those in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, southern France, Britain, Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Canada and Australia will hold separate demonstrations.
The CDK-S and the Swiss Kurdish Women’s Union (YJK-S) called out European states and institutions’ “ingratitude” in their statement, reported ANF English.
The Turkish government “invests its entire existence in denial and genocide, commits crimes against humanity”, they said, while the rest of the world “turns a blind eye”.
The CDK-S called on Europe to take action regarding Turkey’s alleged use of chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters in its cross-border military operations, and on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to send delegations to investigate the allegations.
Meanwhile the OPCW has “almost thrown off its responsibility”, KCDK-E co-chair Fatoş Göksungur said in an interview. “OPCW said that only states can apply for an investigation. And we asked repeatedly: does this mean that, because the Kurds do not have a state, all kinds of atrocities can be practised on 50 million Kurds?”
Göksungur’s co-chair Yüksel Koç called on the Kurdish community in the diaspora to join the International Kurdish National Day of Strike, 12 November, saying, “No one should go to work, open a workplace, or lead a normal life that day. Everyone should be in Düsseldorf tomorrow. Because this resistance is a resistance that defends the dignity and future of the entire Kurdish people.”
There is also an ongoing social media campaign calling for the strike on Saturday, using the #TurkeyUsesChemicals hashtag.
The current allegations stem from the People’s Defence Forces (HPG), the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who released a video in mid-October showing two Kurdish fighters seizing and delirious, reportedly under the influence of banned chemicals. Turkey denies all accusations.
