The Turkish Republic and its Kurdish Question: A War Without Borders

On 26 November, Turkey launched another military offensive against the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria, initially via air strikes. Dozens of civilians were killed, and important infrastructure (including hospitals, and grain depots) was destroyed. President Erdoğan announced an additional ground offensive. 

A few weeks earlier, on 18 October, the footage had been released of HPG fighters with symptoms consistent with fatal poisoning by chemical substances. A delegation of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War Germany and Switzerland (IPPNW) to the region at the end of September had already called for an investigation into the use of chemical weapons. In the wake of this the President of the Turkish Medical Association, Prof. Şebnem Korur-Fincancı, a renowned forensic doctor and co-author of the Istanbul Protocol, was detained for calling for an investigation. 

The speakers will look at the report of IPPNW and the international reactions. Turkey’s recent military offensive in Northern Syria and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will also be discussed. 

Speakers of the panel:

– Saleh Muslim, PYD Co-Chair 

– Barbara Spinelli, Co-President of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights (ELDH)

– Dr. Jan van Aken, the scientific advisory board of IPPNW Germany 

– Dersim Dağdeviren, EUTCC board member 

Moderator: Prof. Kariane Westrheim, EUTCC Chairperson 

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