Parliamentarians from the Kurdish-led left-wing Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), Osman Baydemir, Ali Atalan and Faik Ya臒谋zay, used a press conference in the European Parliament hosted by the European United Left/Nordic 91自拍论坛 (GUE/NGL) to draw attention to the Turkish state's war against the Kurdish population.
Baydemir called attention to the genocidal attacks conducted by government forces against the Kurdish population, describing the situation as a 鈥渟tate of war violating human rights鈥.
He said more than 650 civilians were killed and 450,000 forcibly displaced during the past 10 months, in the name of "counterterrorism". Drawing attention to the ongoing artillery and tank strikes against the civilian population, he stressed that the European Parliament, European Union and other institutions should urgently visit the Kurdish region and witness the destruction. He said independent press members are not allowed to cover the ongoing conflict in the region, while perpetrators are being granted impunity.
He emphasised that Europe should take initiatives for re-starting the ceasefire between the Turkish state and Kurdish resistance forces, and avoid giving in to Erdo臒an's blackmail on refugees.
Spanish Podemos MEP Miguel Urban Crespo told gave observations of a recent visit to North Kurdistan: 鈥淭he city of Diyarbak谋r was being shaken by the sounds of artillery strikes. This is not a normal situation but truly a state of war.鈥
French Left Front MEP Marie-Christine Vergiat said, 鈥淲hat we saw and learned show that the state doesn't respect the laws of war, let alone human rights.鈥
[Abridged from .]
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