MP Andrej Hunko from the German Left Party called on the German Government on Monday to request that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), investigate the allegation that Turkey used chemical weapons in its cross-border operations in Northern Iraq.
Hunko said that the Conference of the States Parties for setting the OPCW’s strategic direction, which started on Monday, was an opportunity for the federal government to address International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War’s (IPPNW) indirect references to Turkey’s alleged chemical weapons use and to demand an investigation.
However, Hunko said that Germany would neither address the information nor advocate an international investigation in this regard.
When asked a parliamentary question on this issue, the government responded, “Based on the current state of knowledge, the Federal Government currently sees no reason to address the allegations mentioned in the IPPNW report within the framework of the OPCW Conference of the State Parties.”
Hunko stressed that Turkey’s war aggression in Syria and northern Iraq violated international law and the German government was not openly critical of it, and pointed out that “cooperation with Turkey in NATO and Sweden and Finland’s accession into NATO are more important to them.”
The OPCW Conference is chaired by the OPCW Permanent Representative of the Republic of South Africa, Vusimuzi Madonsela of South Africa, who has taken over the chairperson duty from the outgoing OPCW Permanent Representative to Norway, Bård Ivar Svendsen.
