BRUSSELS, Belgium, — Numbers of European Parliamentarians have expressed their concern over the use of chemical weapons against the guerrillas of PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).
Stefan Fule, EU commissioner for enlargement, has replied to the parliamentary question presented by several EP members concerning the alleged chemical weapon use against the PKK guerrillas. In an answer given on behalf of the EU Commission, Fule remarked that the Commission will follow the subject which it brought to the agenda before Turkish authorities.
The parliamentary question presented by European parliamentarians had been signed by Jurgen Klutte, Nikolaos Chountis (GUE/NGL), Cornelis de Jong (GUE/NGL), Cornelia Ernst (GUE/NGL), Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE), Baroness Sarah Ludford (ALDE), Katarína Neveďalová (S&D)and Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL).
In the response letter to the question, Fule says the followings;
“After the subject was brought to the agenda by the Commission, Turkey stated in early December of 2011 that the bodies of mentioned PKK members were being examined by Forensic Medicine Institute within the scope of an investigation into the allegations. The Commission will nevertheless continue to follow the issue with a particular interest.
Within the scope of membership negotiations with Turkey, the Commission will also draw attention to the decisions stated in the final declaration of the European Union in December of 2006 as well as the scope of the negotiation determined by EU member countries in 2005.”
Allegations of chemical weapon use by Turkish army against PKK guerrillas were most recently brought to the agenda following the military operation in Roboski (Çukurca) where 36 guerrillas lost their lives on 22 September 2011.
Identities of the unrecognizably burnt bodies of guerrillas couldn’t be determined for many weeks after the clash.
Over 470 guerrillas are thought to have been killed with chemical weapons in at least 40 operations between the years of 1994 and 2011.