The 5 day sit-in in front of the Council of Europe (EC), European Court for Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Commission for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) buildings in Strasbourg continues in its third day.
The sit-in led by the European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress (KCD-E) and European Kurdish Women’s Movement (TJK-E) is being joined by hundreds of people from Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
The protest aims to break European institutions’ silence regarding the massacres of the Turkish state, led by Erdoğan and the AKP, in Kurdistan. Hundreds of protestors are calling for ending Turkey’s membership of the European Council, bringing an end to the ECHR’s approval of the massacres in Kurdistan, and ending the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Banners, posters and photos of Öcalan decorate the 40 meter tent in which protestors carry out their sit-in.
Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şırnak deputy Faysal Sarıyıldız who was in Şırnak’s Cizre district during the course of the most recent onslaught for over 2 months, attended a panel discussion in the area today.
Speaking here, Sarıyıldız said the people of Cizre had resisted in the name of human values against the immoral war waged by the state against the people. He continued; “Look at the photos released from Cizre. It is not any different from the Germany of the 1940’s and the Spain and Beirut of the 70’s. Every inch of the town has been destroyed and demolished, yet the state prides itself on this. This is an immoral attitude.”
“Everyone of us has a part in the massacre”, said Sarıyıldız, adding; “True, our people resisted, they did not bow down. The state massacred people without discriminating between children, youths and the elderly. Over 150 people were burnt to death in the ‘basements of atrocity’. We, too are responsible for this massacre for having failed to prevent it and raise a strong objection against it. European states are also responsible for this massacre because they remained silent.”
Following the sit-in which will last till Sunday, a delegation including Sarıyıldız will have a meeting with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks.