In a recent video released by the People’s Defence Forces (HPG), the military arm of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), a woman fighter exposes the insides of a thermobaric shell containing explosives and chemicals, allegedly fired by the Turkish Armed Forces at Kurdish strongholds in northern Iraq.
The video clearly shows a shell with the inscription ‘Termobarix’, several components and a greyish powder, which is claimed to be a chemical substance. Thermobaric bombs are known to create intense high-temperature and high-pressure explosions by absorbing oxygen from the surrounding air, causing significant damage.
The displayed contents of the shell are explained to be TNT, various other kinds of explosives, glass shards, and a greyish powder. The powder shown in the video is said to have a “strong odour” that “dries the throat and causes headaches”. It causes allergies including “burning and itching” when in direct contact with the skin, indicating a harmful chemical substance.
Turkey is a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and thus stated it “deeply condemns the use of chemical weapons anywhere, at any time, by anyone, under any circumstances.” However the validity of this statement comes into question when looking at the accumulated evidence of Turkey’s use of chemical weapons.
In 2022, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) released a report calling for an ‘independent investigation into possible violations of the Chemical Weapons Convention in northern Iraq by Turkey.’
This report was published shortly after the HPG released two videos in the October of the same year, showing symptoms displayed by two fighters subjected to alleged chemical attacks, including frantic behaviour, memory loss and respiratory problems, leading to their deaths.
Earlier this month, the HPG reported chemical weapons attacks on tunnels used by the Kurdish fighters, adding to collected evidence amounting to prohibited chemical weapons use by the Turkish army.
Mûrat Karayilan, executive commander of the People’s Defence Centre (HSM), the PKK’s central command, recently gave an exclusive interview on this subject with Denge Gel Radio. He pointed out that the Turkish army’s offensive in the mountainous region of Zap has been on-going for three years, to which the guerrilla fighters have led an impenetrable resistance, despite Turkey’s use of high-tech weapons, including chemical gases, banned explosives and tactical nuclear bombs.
The collected evidence has prompted chemical weapons experts and human rights associations to call for an independent investigation.
Forensic expert and human rights defender Şebnem Korur Fincancı, president of the Turkish Medical Association (TBB), was previously arrested in Turkey for requesting such an investigation. The Iraqi parliament is set to probe these allegations, with an Iraqi MP confirming the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish Army.
