Former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Jürgen Klute said that Turkey is committing war crimes while Europe is keeping the war in Ukraine as the first item on its agenda, in an interview to Mezopotamya News Agency (MA).
The co-spokesperson of the Kurdish Friendship Group in the EP, former MEP and member of the Left Group in the European Parliament (EP) Jürgen Klute made a number of statements regarding the allegations of chemical attacks by the Turkish state against Kurds.
“When we look at reports on this issue, we see that the use of chemical weapons has increased recently. The reason for this is that Turkey has been using the war in Ukraine as a cover to hide its attacks. The Ukraine war has caused an enormous energy crisis in Europe. For example, Germany depends for 50% to 60% of its electricity on Russia, as do many European countries. That’s why their agenda is the Ukraine war,” he said.
Stating that the the Western powers could not invalidate Turkey’s blackmail of them regarding the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, Klute also said that Europe has some challenges to draw attention to the human rights violations committed by Turkey and its army. According to Klute, the silence of Western countries is caused by both the Turkey’s blackmail and the war in Ukraine.
“While the Ukraine war is going on, the West cannot venture to have a conflicted relationship with Turkey. This is a reality that we face, unfortunately. We think that the solution lies in mobilising civil society, peace and human rights defenders, trade unions and labour organisations, and putting pressure on states. […] We say that we can stop the war against the Kurds with a societal movement, but the European Community (EC) is unaware of this war, because the western media does not write even a single line about it. So, how will the EC stop a war they don’t know anything about?”
Jürgen Klute also said that they have established the International Kurdish Solidarity Collective with many politicians, activists and lawyers from various states and claimed that it is necessary to develop a new strategy and find a new way of applying political pressure on Turkey.
Jürgen Klute became a member of the European Parliament (DIE LINKE/The Left) and spokesperson for the Kurdish Friendship Group in the EP from 2009 to 2014. Since December 2016, he has been editing the Europa.blog.
