The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Central Executive Board issued a statement condemning the massacre carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in Zakho and called it a “second Roboski” (*). -On 28 December 2011, Turkish fighter jets killed 34 people, including 19 children, in Roboski, on the Turkish-Iraqi border-
The statement reads as follows: “We have learned with great sadness that as a result of the Turkish Armed Forces bombardment of the village of Perex, one of the touristic areas of the city of Zakho, in South Kurdistan, Arab and Kurdish civilians, including children and women, were killed and many were injured.
According to the information we obtained from local sources, 9 people lost their lives and 20 people, including some seriously injured, are being treated. We wish our condolences to the families of the dead and to our people, and a speedy recovery to the injured.
Civilians were massacred by the Turkish army in Shengal and Maxmur before. On 26 May, 3 people, 2 of them children, were killed in the attack on Bamernê.
According to the report prepared by the CPT Iraqi Kurdistan Bureau, at least 112 people, including children and women, were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of the air strikes carried out by the AKP government against cities in the region, especially Maxmur and Shengal, since 2015.
Bombing civilian settlements is a crime against humanity and a war crime. We underlined that Turkey is a signatory of international conventions that prohibit crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The Turkish government is politically and legally responsible for this massacre, which will go down in history as the second Roboski massacre. This massacre also means an attack on the sovereignty of another country.
The perpetrators and decision makers must be prosecuted, and the law must be followed. As a party that advocates for a region and the world without wars and conflicts, we reiterate once again that cross-border military operations and attacks must be stopped as soon as possible, and we condemn this massacre in the strongest terms.
In addition, due to the passing of the bill that opened the door to this massacre, we are publicly requesting that the President of the Assembly immediately call the General Assembly for an emergency meeting to discuss this issue.”
(*) Roboski-Massacre: On 28 December 2011, fighter jets of the Turkish Armed Forces killed 34 people, including 19 children, in Roboski, a village in Şırnak province, located in the Turkish-Iraqi border area. Until the general staff confirmed the incident at noon the next day, the mainstream media remained silent about the massacre. On 2 January 2012, government spokesman Bülent Arınç said: “The findings made an operation seem necessary. At the moment there is no need for an official apology.”
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