Kurdish institutions and citizens in cities across Europe have launched protests to demand action after an alleged Turkish chemical weapons attack against Kurdish guerrillas, reports ANF.

Following footage showing Turkey’s use of chemical weapons shared on social media by the People’s Defence Forces (HPG), Kurds in the cities of Hamburg, Giessen, Heilbronn and Kiel of Germany; Rennes and Marseilles of France; Geneva of Switzerland; Graz of Austria and Nicosia of Cyprus have taken to the streets in large numbers to protest against the attacks.

Ethnologist Anja Flach made a speech in the demonstration in Hamburg and said that the guerrilla movement must be supported against the use of chemical weapons.

“By keeping their silence against these attacks of the Turkish state, the United Nations (UN) and other institutions have also become partners in the attacks,” said Flach.

In Rennes of France, the Kurds and their European supporters demonstrated against the Turkish state and criticised the silence of the Western countries.

Kurds gathering in Geneva of Switzerland called on the UN “not to cooperate with Turkey in the crimes against humanity”.

A sit-in outside the UN building in Geneva, to protest against the silence of international institutions and states and to demand action, has ended on its third day.

In Marseilles of France, thousands marched with the photos of Kurdish fighters killed by chemical attacks wearing white overalls.

Protesters also gathered in Giessen, Heilbronn, Kiel of Germany; Nicosia of Cyprus; Rennes of France and Graz of Austria, wearing hazmat suits in protest against the chemical weapons.

On 18 October, the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) released a video showing Kurdish guerrillas who had been caught in a Turkish chemical weapons attack in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

The OPCW started procedures for an investigation into earlier allegations to determine whether Turkey had used white phosphorus against Syrian Kurdish forces, but it abandoned the investigation in November 2019.