International

SP Member of Parliament Ronald Van Raak is requesting the government to urge Turkey to cease military action against Kurdish fighters. ‘On Tuesday NATO, at Turkey’s request, will discuss the Turkish military action against Kurdish fighters and ISIS,’ says Van Raak. ‘The Netherlands must deliver the message that it isn’t the Kurds but ISIS and other Al Qaida-like groups who have to be combatted. The Kurds are one of the few groups which is fighting ISIS effectively. Furthermore, it’s of the utmost importance that the peace process with the PKK is revived.’

Since the suicide attack last week in Suruç in the south of Turkey, an attack which resulted in the death of more than thirty people, Turkey has escalated the military actions against ISIS and Kurdish fighters. Attacks have been carried out against ISIS in Syria and against the Kurdish PKK in Iraq’s north. There are also reports of attacks on Kurds in Syria, though Turkey has denied these. In addition, many hundreds of people have been arrested in Turkey, of whom many don’t belong to ISIS at all.

‘The SP has often drawn attention to the dubious role played by Turkey in the struggle against ISIS, for example in relation to the many fighters who are able to join up with ISIS via Turkish territory, or the weapons which are carried over the border,’ says Van Raak. ‘It’s extremely important that this flood of fighters and weapons is stopped, because as long as that doesn’t happen, ISIS can’t be successfully combatted.’