Meral Çiçek
“While the American Consulate promised to work together to prevent ‘such a horrific atrocity from happening again,’ NATO partner Turkey was simultaneously continuing its chemical war in Başûr with the approval and support of the United States,” writes Meral Çiçek for Yeni Ozgur Politika.
The US Consulate in Erbil (Hewlêr) posted a photo of the Halabja monument on its official Facebook account yesterday with the words: “We commemorate all those killed or injured in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) as a result of these horrific acts of violence. We will continue working together to prevent such horrible atrocities from ever happening again and to promote the principles of peace, understanding, and diversity.”
The reason the US representative office in Başûr (Iraqi Kurdistan) shared this message was that yesterday was the Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare. The day had been officially recognised by the United Nations (UN) and celebrated since 30 November 2005.
This day was recognised by the UN to commemorate the people who lost their lives in chemical wars and also to remind us of the duty of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). At least, that’s what was written in the statements made on 30 November 2005.
The US Erbil Office commemorated the Kurds who were massacred with chemical weapons in Başûr during Saddam’s regime. But in the same lands, fascist TC (Turkey) has continued to slaughter Kurds with chemical weapons. In Kurdistan, people continue to lose their lives as a result of the chemical war today.
While the American Consulate promised to work together to prevent ‘such a horrific atrocity from happening again,’ NATO partner TC (Turkey) was simultaneously continuing its chemical war in Başûr with the approval and support of the United States.
It is truly hypocritical, or rather worse that that, to commemorate the Kurds who were massacred with chemical weapons more than 30 years ago and to be complicit in the chemical war against the same Kurds today. This is nothing new for the United States itself or its policy regarding Kurds.
But since yesterday was the Day of Remembrance for all Victims of Chemical Warfare, a few more points need to be made here.
Chemical wars are not a thing of the past. It didn’t end with the First World War, nor did it end with Halabja or the Sardasht massacres. Chemical warfare is still happening today.
Of course, it is important and meaningful to commemorate those who were killed as a result of chemical weapons in the past. However, if a day of remembrance focused entirely on the past closes its eyes to the atrocities that still take place today, if it ignores the chemical wars that are taking place today, it is necessary to question it.
While the OPCW publishes written statements every year on the anniversaries of the Halabja and Sardasht massacres, it continues to remain silent regarding the massacres that have taken place as a result of chemical warfare in Kurdistan today.
However, Kurdistan is the land where the world’s most intense chemical attacks are being conducted today, as they were during the 1980s, and therefore it should be on the OPCW’s main agenda.
In which other part of the world is there an ongoing chemical war today? As it is reported in the media, there is currently no chemical weapons-based attack and invasion in any land other than Kurdistan.
So the TC (Turkish state) should be on the main agenda of the OPCW, which has been engaged in meetings in Den Haag for three days for its 26th annual conference.
The Kurdish people, institutions, and their allies have been providing the necessary information and issuing urgent appeals for months about it. For the same reason yesterday, the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) once again called upon the OPCW to fulfil its legal and moral responsibility.
The conference, which continues until 3 December, will also formally clarify the OPCW’s position on the TC’s chemical warfare. Because there is no way left now for the OPCW to escape from doing so.
Therefore, with the results of this meeting, it will be necessary to once again consider the ways and methods of the fight to end chemical warfare in the world, especially the chemical war of the TC in Kurdistan. This should be done especially in the context of OPCW.
