Demirtas: Chemical warfare is a crime against humanity

Using chemical weapons, whatever the reason, is a crime against humanity and these crimes will never lapse, imprisoned Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtas over the allegations that Turkish forces were using chemical warfare against PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) militants in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

“In order to determine the situation, an independent, international delegation should go to the region and investigate. The conditions for such an investigation must be provided,” Demirtas said in a series of posts on Twitter.

Former HDP Co-Chair Demirtas, currently serving in Edirne Prison, said that the video posts on social media about the allegations were conveyed to him through his lawyers.

“The Parliament and the opposition cannot remain silent to these images. To pass it off with silence is to confirm the crime. Using chemical weapons, whatever the reason, is a crime around the world. The clear culprit of such a crime would be the AKP-MHP government, which knows no bounds in its war policy,” Demirtas said.

“Noone should forget even for a second that the use of chemical weapons is a crime against humanity and there is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. Those who commit such a crime will definitely be held accountable before an independent judiciary,” he concluded.

On Tuesday, the pro-Kurdish HDP (People's Democratic Party) called on international institutions to investigate the allegations concerning the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish military in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

"There are serious reports and allegations that Turkey has been using chemical agents in its military operations since 2021 in the territories of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, which according to international law constitutes a war crime, and some images recently published by some media outlets further support such allegations," the Executive Council of HDP said in a statement.