The Left Group in the European Parliament has said that the European Union must end its double-standards and use all means to put an end to the aggression of the Turkish government.
The group on Wednesday published a statement on Turkey’s attacks in the Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria, which have caused many deaths and injuries.
Stating that airstrikes have targeted civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and killed dozens of people, the group demanded that the EU react firmly to this aggression.
“Seeking to distract from deepening economic troubles, the Turkish government has turned to warmongering,” they said, evaluating as a pretext to attack the Kurdish regions the remarks of the Erdoğan regime that the Turkish attacks were “revenge” for the explosion in Istanbul.
The group stressed that “international law and the principle of sovereignty should apply whether or not the aggressor is a NATO member”, and said that the EU must end its double-standards and use all means to put an end to the aggression of Erdoğan’s government.
“The EU cannot turn a blind eye while innocent Kurdish lives become an instrument of propaganda, in an attempt to gain votes and secure an election victory for a rotten regime,” they said.
Özlem Demirel, European Parliamentary Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee and a German Die Linke (The Left) MP said that jihadist structures from Syria had been utilised for the explosion in Istanbul, which she noted is a part of the modus operandi of the Turkish intelligence service.
“This hypocritical behaviour of the EU must stop and all means must be set in motion to put an end to the aggression of the Erdoğan regime,” said Demirel.
Although the United States and Russia both released statements on 21 November, urging de-escalation in Syria to protect civilian life, and calling on Turkey to show restraint regarding the strikes on Syrian territory, Turkish President Erdoğan said that no one can oppose Turkey or prevent it drawing a line as far inside the Syrian border as it needs to be.
