Again Major Human Rights Violations by Turkish Army against Kurds.

Again Major Human Rights Violations by Turkish Army against Kurds. (ML)

ISTANBUL – Allegations of major human rights violations have emerged from Koruköy, a village of perhaps 500 in Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast that’s been under military blockade since February 11.

“Five helicopters and lots of soldiers came to the village and we heard them come into our neighbors’ homes,” Newal Aygül (not her real name), a Koruköy resident told The Media Line, speaking secretly over the phone.

“They took nearly all of the men out of the village, and some of the women. We don’t know where.”

Soldiers cut off access to and from Koruköy, confined the villagers to their homes, and reportedly took all of their telephones, though Aygül managed to hold on to hers.

She says soldiers have abused the villagers, harassed the women and scared the children.

“My husband was beaten by soldiers in front of our children. They also took him to the village square in front of the neighbors and beat him there,” Aygül said.

“I saw soldiers beating a boy, maybe 15 or 16, just for using his phone, maybe because of the sounds or pictures. Then they took him and dunked him in the well.”

Their livestock, crucial for their rural livelihood, have died.

“All the animals died because the soldiers don’t let us take them out. ‘If you let them out, we’ll kill you,’ they tell us,” Aygül says.

Water was cut off for two months until recently being turned back on, and Aygül thinks dirty well water made many villagers ill.

“There are lots of children here, and probably most are sick. We don’t know how to treat them. There’s an ambulance, but when we take them there, the doctors and nurses don’t care for them properly.”

The Mardin Governor’s Office, which has jurisdiction over Koruköy, denies any abuse has occurred. Publicly, it says the military operations aim to “neutralize the terrorists” and arrest collaborators. Read the full story here.

İHD delegate who tried to get into Koruköy told me the same - armed men with long beards and no uniforms at checkpoints. https://t.co/A3aFV1PknO

— Nick Ashdown (@Nick_Ashdown) February 23, 2017

Social media accounts linked to Turkish Special Forces have shared in the last days pictures of tortured and killed villagers from #Koruköy

— Cahida Dêrsim (@dersi4m) February 23, 2017

İHD report says several families cannot reach their children in blockaded Koruköy https://t.co/Uz7V6oX2H5

— Istanbul Turkey (@IstanbulTuRRkey) February 25, 2017

Moscow slams ‘selective’ human rights approach, urges impartial probe of Kurds’ plight in Turkey

Moscow slams ‘selective’ human rights approach, urges impartial probe of Kurds’ plight in Turkey. (RT).

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has criticized international human rights organizations’ lack of action and comment as apparently “selective” in light of mass crimes allegedly committed by Ankara against the Kurdish population.

“We presume that all reports, particularly documented ones, about brutal and massive human rights and international law violations should be thoroughly investigated,” Zakharova said in an official statement published on the foreign ministry’s website. “For these purposes, there are special international procedures and mechanisms. Essential is that they have to be used impartially and objectively.”

Zakharova also criticized international human rights groups, HRW and Amnesty International in particular, which are supposed to be spearheading the investigation, for not being active enough and their “lack of comments” on the matter.

“We think that international human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International should be the ones drawing the international community’s attention to the issue as they claim to be experts in this field,” she said.

The foreign ministry “took a close look at materials presented by the RT channel” which showed the aftermath of Turkey’s so-called anti-terrorist operation, Zakharova said, insisting that the absence of comments from human rights organization on this issue demonstrates an “ambiguous and selective approach they take in covering human rights violations.”

While admitting they have not seen RT’s material and petition so far, Amnesty International, however, said that they are actively monitoring the situation in southeastern Turkey and that they have repeatedly urged Ankara to put an end to its aggressive policy in the region. Meanwhile HRW said their Turkish researchers “are still looking into the allegations, but are not available to comment at present.”

RT launched a petition calling for a UNHRC-led investigation into claims of alleged massacre of Kurds by the Turkish military during Ankara’s crackdown in the country's southeast. It is based on materials that an RT crew recorded as it visited Cizre in Turkey’s Sirnak province following reports of a brutal military crackdown in which some 150 civilians were allegedly burned to death.

Zakharova’s statement echoes that of Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov who also advocated the launch of a probe into Ankara’s military actions. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will continue the crackdown on Kurdish communities in the country’s southeast. He insists that such actions are aimed at ensuring peace in the country and countering terrorism with an “iron fist.”

Before the ministry rebuked Amnesty International for inaction, on March 11, the charity simply refused to give any comments on the issue in response to another request from RT International. “We will not be able to comment on this at this time and must decline your offer,” a spokesperson from the organization replied to RT.

Apart from Amnesty International, the footage shot by RT journalists in Cizre has been submitted to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the international and Middle East branches of Medics Without Borders (MSF), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The ICRC told RT they cannot investigate the issue as they do not have an office in Turkey while the OHCHR only offered a press-release from February 1 and MSF gave no reply. Hmmm.......So Turkey has no Red crescent ?