Public Letter by 65 Prominent Women Calls on OPCW to Investigate Turkey's Use of Chemical Weapons

OPCW 

Mr. Fernando Arias 

Johan de Wittlaan 32
2517 JR The Hague
The Netherlands  

                                                                                             October 22, 2021 

Subject: Use of Chemical Weapons by Turkey 

Dear Mr. Director-General Fernando Arias, 

We are addressing you today as women from different countries regarding a matter of grave concern. Once again, the Turkish army is facing accusations of having used internationally prohibited weapons. 

Since April 23, 2021, the Turkish state has been conducting a military offensive in North Iraq against the Kurdish guerrilla and the civilian population. Beyond the fact that this military operation in one of its neighboring country is illegal under international law, Turkey is also committing war crimes by using internationally banned weapons.  

According to information provided by the press office of the People's Defense Units (HPG), the Turkish army has carried out a total of 138 attacks with chemical weapons in the last 5 months, as a result of which several fighters have lost their lives. On September 3 alone, three fighters were killed in Gire Sor in the region Avashin. Not only are guerrilla fighters the target of these atrocities. The village of Hirore was attacked with chemical weapons on September 4 and one family suffered injuries from the attack. The NGO ‘Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq’ has confirmed that these injuries were caused by the use of chemical weapons. 

This is not the first time: Already in 2010, 2013 and especially due to a bombing in the North Syrian town of Serekaniye (Arabic: Ras al-Ayn) in October 2019, Turkey has been accused of the use of chemical weapons against civilians. Incriminating footage and expert opinions in the international media supported this accusation at the time. On October 17, 2019, Turkey used white phosphorus during its airstrikes on the town of Serekaniye, and dozens of people including children and women were seriously injured. At that time, too, international organizations and the state community remained silent towards Turkey's crime. 

History is full of state atrocities against individuals or ethnic groups because they are exposed to states without protection. To prevent this, international laws and mechanisms such as your organization have been established as an achievement of humanity. But we see that this state of affairs continues because these very laws and mechanisms do not consistently fulfill their obligations. 

We are sorry to see that neither national nor international law applies when it comes to the Kurds. Turkey, as a ratifying state of the OPCW, has been carrying out atrocities for years before the eyes of the international public and your organization without being held accountable. 

The poison gas attack by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish people in North Iraq in 1988 could have been prevented if his activities had been stopped beforehand. For the more than 5000 victims of the poison gas attack and their relatives in the city of Halabja, it was nothing but a mockery that 15 years later they were used as a pretext for attacking Iraq and for causing even more suffering.   

We do not want to aid and abet this crime through inaction. We expect you, as the Director-General of an international organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons, to fulfill your responsibility, to investigate these serious allegations, to take clarifying action and to hold Turkey accountable for its crimes.

Yours Sincerely, 

1. Silvia Federici, Professor Emerita of Political Philosophy and International Studies, Hofstra University – USA

2. Nancy Fraser, Professor of Philosophy and Politics - USA

3. Gloria Steinem, Writer and feminist organizer, Co-founder of Ms. Magazine and the Women's Media Center - USA

4. Debra Winger, Actress - USA

5. Charlotte Bunch, Founding Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership and Distinguished Professor, Rutgers University.

6. Marina Sitrin, Associate Professor of Sociology, State University of New York (SUNY) Binghamton; JD in International Women's Human Rights, City University of New York Law School.

7. Joy James, Ebenezer Fitch Professor of the Humanities, Williams College.

8. Joya Misra, Professor of Sociology & Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Director, Institute for Social Science Research, and Chair, Sex & Gender Section of the American Sociological Association

9. Debbie Bookchin, Journalist and author - USA

10. Meredith Tax, Writer - USA

11. Miriam Miranda, OFRANEH (Organización Fraternal Negra de Honduras), Coordinator - Honduras

12. Claudia Korol, Feministas del ABYA YALA - Argentina

13. Margara Millan, Academic - Mexico

14. Sylvia Marcos, Writer and academic- Mexico

15. Cheryl Hayles, President of International Alliance of Women (IAW) - Canada

16. Kurdish Women’s Relations Office (REPAK) - Kurdistan Region of Iraq

17. Democratic Plurinational Women’s Platform – Iran

18. Bese Shamari, Board member of Democratic Platform of Iran – Iran

19. Women’s Democratic Front – Pakistan

20. Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) - Afghanistan

21. Selay Ghaffar, Spokeswoman of Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (Hambastagi) – Afghanistan

22. Belqis Roshen, Member of National Assembly - Afghanistan

23. Gita Sahgal, Writer and film producer, co-founder of Southall Black Sisters and Women Against Fundamentalism, former head of Amnesty International's Gender Unit - India

24. Helda Khasmy, Chairwoman of SERUNI - Indonesia

25. Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights - Egypt

26. Dr. Angela Al-Maamari, President of Center of Strategic Studies to Support Women and Children - Yemen

27. Fathia Hezem, Tunisian Association of Democratic Women - Tunisia

28. Bushra Al-Tai, Seba Center for Studies and Human Development - Iraq

29. Shereen Karim Murad, Democratic People’s Front Women’s Committee President - Iraq

30. Dr. Maha Al-Sakban, Academic - Iraq

31. Insaf Abdullah, Women’s rights activist - Sudan

32. Dr. Heba Haddadini, Feminist activist - Jordan

33. Kanir Abdullah Hama Aziz, Writer, Sulaymaniyah Governorate - Kurdistan Region of Iraq

34. Ramzieh Muhammed, Kongra Star spokeswoman - Rojava

35. Eman Fetaih, President of Syrian Women’s Forum for Peace - Lebanon

36. Rima Barakat, Co-Chair of Justice Council - North East Syria

37. Mona Yaya, Sahrawi Community of Human Rights Defenders - West Sahara

38. Dr. Sophia Zaza, President of Health and Shield Association - Lebanon

39. Rahila Gupta, Southall Black Sisters, Journalist - UK

40. World Women’s March - Basque Country

41. Jule Goikoetxea Mentxaka, Academic - Basque Country

42. Oihana Etxebarrieta, Basque parliamentarian and secretariat of Feminisms of EH Bildu - Basque Country

43. Eider Azkunaga Hernández, International Department Euskal Sindikatua - Basque Country

44. Women Defend Rojava Madrid - Spain

45. Rojava Azadi Madrid - Spain

46. Commons Foundation (Fundación de los Comunes) - Spain

47. Ann-Margarethe Liv, Founder of Solidaritet med Kurdistan - Sweden

48. Lorena Delgado Waras, MP - Sweden

49. Amineh Kakabaveh, MP – Sweden

50. Parvin Ardalan, Writer, journalist and women’s rights activist - Sweden

51. Seher Aydar, MP - Norway

52. Sofie Marhaug, MP - Norway

53. Hege Bae Nyholt, MP - Norway

54. Anina Jendreyko, Artist - Switzerland

55. Maja Hess, Doctor - Switzerland

56. Mitra Darvishian, Writer and women’s rights activist - Germany

57. Women Defend Rojava - Germany

58. Cansu Özdemir, MP - Germany

59. Şeyda Kurt, Journalist and writer - Germany

60. Elif Küçük, Visual artist - Germany

61. Antonella Valenti, Calabria University Professor - Italy I

62. talian Coordination in Support of Afghan Women (CISDA) - Italy

63. Dr. Palmira Tavolaro, Academic - Italy

64. Donata Chirico, Calabria University - Italy

65. Maria Laura Corradi, Researcher - Italy