Demonstrations – Freiburg im Breisgau – Peaceful Kurdish demos in the southwest – Politics

Stuttgart / Freiburg / Heilbronn (dpa / lsw) – Supporters of the Kurds protested peacefully against the Turkish military operation in northern Iraq in Stuttgart, Freiburg and Heilbronn. According to the police, around 150 participants gathered for a protest march in Freiburg on Saturday, around 100 people took to the streets in Stuttgart and around a dozen people in Heilbronn. The posters said, among other things: “End the genocide in Kurdistan” or “Stop Turkey’s use of chemical weapons”.

In northern Iraq, the Turkish army is repeatedly attacking targets of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, which has its headquarters in the Kandil Mountains, with air and ground offensives. In the past, the Scientific Service of the Bundestag had expressed doubts as to whether the mission was compatible with international law. Turkish troops have invaded northern Syria several times since 2016 and are occupying areas in the border region. Ankara is fighting the YPG there – the government regards the Kurdish militia as a Syrian offshoot of the PKK. In Syria, however, the YPG is also the USA’s most important ally in the fight against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The PKK is a terrorist organization in Turkey, Germany and the USA.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211031-99-807139 / 2

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