The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PTT) on Rojava vs. Turkey held its session at the European Parliament in Brussels on 26 March with a presentation of the judgement on Turkey’s policy in North and East Syria (Rojava). The Tribunal produced evidence of human rights abuses by Turkey in Rojava and formulated recommendations for the governments of Turkey and Syria in a judicial attempt to improve the situation.
The PPT is an international organisation established in 1979 as the expression of, and instrument to promote, the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples through independent hearings and judgements on severe violations of human rights which do not find visibility and identification in the established courts of national and international law.
The request which led to the public hearings on Rojava vs. Turkey, held at Free University of Brussels in February 2025 was submitted by a network of associations representing the peoples of the autonomous region of Rojava, administrated by an alliance of Kurds, Arabs and Syriacs.
The indictment accuses Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, former Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (former head of Turkish intelligence agency MIT), Defence Minister Yaçar Güler (former Commander General and Chief of Defence Staff), and General Ümit Dündar, of committing the following crimes from 2018 to date:
Aggression in Syria between 2018 and 2024; crimes against humanity, in particular ethnic cleansing (forced displacement of the Kurdish population and ethnic engineering by resettling Syrians from elsewhere); war crimes including targeted killings of civilians, indiscriminate bombing of civilians, appropriation of civilian property, environmental destruction, targeting of women and torture.
Judge Gabrielle Lefèvre explained the recommendations for the Turkish government: end its occupation of Afrin (Efrîn), cease all attacks on Rojava, create the conditions which permit displaced people to return to their homes, stop the “Turkification” of Rojava, facilitate a democratic transition in Syria and equal negotiations between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and the new Syrian government.
“No one should turn a blind eye to Erdoğan. No one should be silent against Turkish State,” she said.
The Peoples’ Tribunal also formulated recommendations to the Syrian government: allow the right to self-determination, respect gender equality, and prevent Turkish incursions into Syrian territory.
Lawyer Jan Fermon said: “There is also a recommendation for the new Syrian government. That’s important, because it’s clear that the matters of the Kurds in Syria are an internal Syrian matter and should be solved by the Syrian people, Kurdish and others, in a process of dialogue and exchange and mutual respect.”
Representatives of AANES participated in the final verdict session. Foreign Relations Co-Chair Ilham Ahmed commented on the conclusions of the Tribunal:
“Unfortunately, the Turkish government is blocking us by all means possible. Before we were blocked by the Ba’ath government. Now as Turkey has a relationship with the new government, it finds always a way to block the way the Kurds try to obtain their rights, by all possible means: massacres, killings of politicians, children, women, civilians, fighters. This appears clearly in your report.”
The purpose of the Peoples’ Tribunal is to counter what the French writer Sartre called “the crime of silence”. This landmark judgement arrives at a pivotal moment for peace and political resolution regarding the Kurdish question in North and East Syria and Turkey.
International pressure is rising on the Turkish and the Syrian government in order to stop its repression on the Kurdish population and to find a democratic solution for all people living in Syria.
