On Tuesday, at a recent UN Human Rights Council side event in Geneva titled “Human Rights in Turkey: Crimes Against the Kurdish People Continue”, key experts delivered scathing critiques of Turkey’s human rights record, particularly regarding its treatment of the Kurdish population.
Adem Uzun, a member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), drew a stark comparison between historical genocides and the current treatment of Kurds in Turkey, accusing the Turkish state of committing genocide against Kurdish populations.
Uzun compared the current situation to the early Turkish Republic’s persecution of non-Muslims, including Armenians and Greeks. He claimed that Turkey is now engaged in a similar campaign against the Kurds, involving physical, political, cultural, and linguistic oppression. Uzun also accused Turkey of attempting to occupy Kurdish territories in Syria and Iraq, describing these actions as war crimes.
Central to Uzun’s speech was the case of Abdullah Öcalan, a Kurdish leader imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999. Uzun revealed that Öcalan has been cut off from the outside world for the past 42 months, with no information available about his wellbeing. He condemned Turkey’s treatment of Öcalan as a violation of human rights and international law, highlighting the ongoing isolation and lack of contact with his family and legal representatives.
Uzun further criticised European and international bodies for their inaction regarding Öcalan’s case and the broader human rights violations in Turkey. Despite efforts to raise awareness and pressure international institutions, Uzun lamented the continued silence and lack of follow-up on past decisions, including those by the UN and the Council of Europe.
Meanwhile, Professor Hans-Lukas Kieser, a historian from the University of Zurich, provided a historical context, tracing Turkey’s repression of Kurds back to the early 20th century. He highlighted the Treaty of Lausanne’s failure to recognise the Kurds, leading to decades of systematic rights violations. Kieser also discussed Turkey’s recent military incursions in Syria, such as the occupation of Afrin in 2018, which he described as major human rights violations aimed at suppressing Kurdish self-governance.
In addition, Cengiz Çandar, a Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP, addressed Turkey’s deteriorating democratic standards and their impact on Kurdish issues. He criticised the regime’s disregard for both domestic and international legal rulings and described Turkey’s political climate as “proto-fascist”. Çandar linked Turkey’s internal authoritarianism with its aggressive foreign policy, undermining Kurdish autonomy and stressing the need for international solidarity and reform to resolve these critical issues.
The panel emphasised the urgent need for international intervention to address Turkey’s human rights abuses and protect Kurdish rights, calling for immediate and effective action to uphold international law and human rights standards.
