Politics

Kurdish MEP calls for end to European arms exports to Turkey

The Kurdish lawmaker called for an end to European arms exports to Turkey, and said the EU must “accept Rojava as a self-administration,” referring to the Kurdish majority northeast.

Mustafa Shilani 2019/10/12 07:00

middle east Syria Turkey Kurds European Union Sweden

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Kurdish Member of the European Parliament called on countries in the European Union as well as abroad to speak out against Turkey’s military operation against Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.

Özlem Alev Demirel, a Kurdish German lawmaker in the EU Parliament, described Ankara’s incursion into northeastern Syria as “an illegal war.”

Turkey’s offensive “has to be stopped now,” Demirel told Kurdistan 24. “The European Union and other countries in the world have to say no to this war.”

The Kurdish lawmaker called for an end to European arms exports to Turkey, a NATO member, and said the EU must “accept Rojava as a self-administration,” referring to the Kurdish majority northeast.

Demirel was one of two leading candidates for The Left party of Germany ahead of the May 2019 EU elections.

She told Kurdistan 24 that the EU Parliament would meet next week to discuss a resolution to Turkey’s war in Syria. The 35-year-old politician added that she would demand that the EU use diplomatic and economic mechanisms to stop the attack.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde said the Turkish attack on northeastern Syria “is a direct violation of human rights.”

“The attack is against the Kurds and Kurdish fighters in Syria whom we believe we should thank for their decisive role in fighting against ISIS and defeating the terrorist group,” Linde told Kurdistan 24 last week.

Turkey’s assault on northeastern Syria began on Wednesday with heavy artillery shelling and airstrikes on several areas along the sprawling Syrian-Turkish border, close to which are towns and cities controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Turkish warplanes intensified their offensive on Saturday, targeting the Gire Spi and Serekaniye regions.

According to Linde, Sweden wants all EU member states “to halt weapons and military equipment supplies to Turkey.”

Commenting on an upcoming EU meeting on Monday, the Swedish diplomat said lawmakers would pass a decision to send 100 million Swedish krona (10 million euros) worth of humanitarian assistance to the Syrian Kurds.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Additional reporting by Barzan Hassan)