Simon Dubbins, director of International and Research of the UK’s Unite the Union, spoke to Medya Haber regarding the silence of western countries in the face of crimes committed by Turkey and the removal of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) from the EU list of terrorist organisations.
Dubbins, also a member of the Freedom for Öcalan Campaign, answered questions from Erem Kansoy. He called on the international community to take immediate action against Turkey’s war crimes.
“Turkey is engaged in military actions in Syria, it’s been in Azerbaijan, it’s in Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean, and it’s typical of the way Turkey has been behaving recently, extremely aggressively and extremely violently, both outside its borders and within its own borders towards its own population, even to the extent of supporting jihadi and ISIS-aligned forces. It’s time the other NATO members and the international community act and do something about it.”
He also drew attention to the arms trade between the UK and Turkey.
“There are many countries, such as the UK and others involved in a lot of business and particularly a lot of arms deals with Turkey, so they have a vested interest in not taking any action. But it’s unacceptable, they really do need to investigate the allegations properly and take appropriate action should it be proved to be true in relation to chemical weapons. But beyond that, they should be taking action anyway to stop the outrageous aggression of Turkey.”
In 2020 Belgium’s supreme court decided that EU anti-terrorism legislation cannot be applied to the PKK. Commenting on the PKK ban, Dubbins recalled the Belgian court’s ruling that “the PKK cannot be prosecuted as a ‘terrorist’ organisation because it is a party to an armed conflict with the Turkish state.”
“I think what’s really important point is that the highest level of the Belgian judiciary arrived at this decision. What is very important now is that we spread word and information about that decision and we try and encourage other judiciaries and other parliaments and politicians and the general public, firstly, to understand what that decision was, and secondly, to really start engaging themselves on that basis as well.”
