
Left-wing members of the European parliament have called on the European Union to pressure the Turkish government to immediately end its attacks against the Kurdish community in northern Kurdistan (southeast Turkey).
The call was made by Sinn Fein MEP Martina Anderson, part of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left parliamentary bloc, after a meeting on January 13 with a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) delegation.
The HDP is a pro-Kurdish left-wing group in Turkey that made a big break through in elections last June, but has faced a severe crack down from the Turkish state, which is escalating its war on Kurdish communities within Turkey.
Anderson said: "The HDP representatives outlined the impact of the Turkish government's extreme violence against the Kurdish community. Since it began enforcing military curfews in August, Turkish security forces have killed hundreds of Kurdish people, including about 200 civilians, and displaced thousands more.
"The European institutions have turned a blind eye to extreme human rights abuses by the Turkish government with the cynical aim of ensuring that Turkey will act as a gatekeeper to keep migrants from entering the EU.
Anderson, a member of the Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, said: "We need to see an immediate end to attacks on civilians and the reinstatement of an all-party ceasefire. Two years ago, the 10-point Dolmabahçe Agreement between Turkey and Kurds resulted in a two-year period of peace. The roadmap for a peaceful resolution is there, and the EU must bring the maximum pressure to bear on Turkey to return to the negotiating table and bring an end to decades of conflict."
[Abridged from SinnFein.ie]
Video: Exclusive: Long interview with the Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtaş in Turkey. Expressen.