A member of the Turkish parliament has accused the West of hypocrisy towards the Kurds, saying that the international community allied with Ankara turns a blind eye to its “authoritarian” policies instead of investigating alleged crimes.
“During 100 years of Kurdish people’s fight for independence, international forces have been practicing a two-faced policy in regard to the Kurds. They [Western countries] have always had close ties and common interests with Turkey, and have turned a blind eye to the oppression and elimination of the Kurds because of their own interests,” Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP Dirayet Tasdemir told RT.
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Europe closes its eyes to Ankara’s actions against the Kurdish population because of the migrant crisis, she added, saying that EU leaders are being manipulated by Turkey’s use of the flows of people from the Middle East.
The fact that Kurds are not represented at the Geneva talks on Syria is "a big mistake," the Turkish MP said, adding that it is the Kurdish people who are "fighting for peace in Syria, who stand against terrorists and extremists and who shed their blood." Some sides who "have nothing to do with Syria" are present at the peace talks, while Kurds "who are fighting for a democratic Syria" are absent from the table.
Even defeating Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria will not solve the problem if the interests of all peoples living in the region are not taken into consideration, she said. "Western forces seemingly don't want this to happen," Tasdemir said, adding that "without the Kurds, [the] Geneva [talks] are senseless."
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"While Europe acknowledges Kurds' achievements in fighting IS, and talk about it at various meetings, they still don't let Kurds sit at one table with them, to jointly solve the problem," the MP said.
"Everything that Kurds have achieved in western Kurdistan, has been achieved with their blood," she said.
However, alleged Turkish atrocities against the Kurdish population are not being investigated, the deputy said, adding that the Turkish community has tried in vain to appeal to the West for it to "investigate and condemn" Ankara's actions.
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"When over 100 people have been injured in Cizre, we called for the international community to help them, but got no reply, and all of them were killed," the MP said.
"Now, four districts are totally destroyed in Cizre. Some 10,000 houses are in a completely unlivable condition, including those buildings that did not come under shelling. Turkish troops entered those houses, marauded and made everything they could to make the buildings unlivable, on purpose," Tasdemir told Sputnik news agency, adding that "they want to clean the place from the Kurds."
Ankara's crackdown on the Kurds in the southeast of Turkey is reminiscent of IS atrocities on residents of the Kurdish-populated town of Kobani in northern Syria, the lawmaker told Sputnik. The violent actions contradict the Turkish constitution and would "never help solve the problem," she said.
"It's a well-known fact that Turkey is moving towards an authoritarian regime, no opposition thinking is tolerated, opponents [of the authorities] are removed by all means... They've launched a crackdown on the media, they imprison people - women as well," Tasdemir told RT.
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"Unfortunately, no one is free in Turkey, neither journalists, nor human rights activists, nor the court... But it's the militants [who are free to] illegally cross the border from Syria every day. Their injured fighters are treated [in Turkey] and then sent back to fight – it's all documented and proven," the Turkish MP concluded.