Turkey arrested and denounced terrorism against the president of the College of Physicians (TTB), Sebnem Korur Fincanciwhich limited itself to denouncing the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish armed forces in their fight against the Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq.
Financi spoke like this after seeing a video published by the ANF agency last Tuesday showing two members of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) suffering a chemical attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. His is an authoritative voice on the matter.
[Entramos en la Cueva de los Españoles del Kurdistán Iraquí, Listos para la Guerra contra Erdogán y la OTAN]
A 63-year-old coroner, Financi enjoys great prestige and international recognition in torture investigations, as well as human rights activist. Now he faces an accusation of “terrorist propaganda”, for which a deputy was convicted last week, Leyla Guvento 11 years and seven months of imprisonment.
“Enemy of the Country”
“Our president was arrested today following a public debate and furious attacks directed against her,” TTB, which federates all medical associations in Turkey, said in a statement. “Neither for the arrest nor for the judicial investigation is there a legal basis”, the agency defends.
All because Financi, in statements to the press, said that according to his inquiries after seeing the video in question, the Turkish forces actually used “some kind of toxic gas”. The reaction of the Minister of the Interior was immediate, Suleyman Soyluaccusing her of being a “slanderer” and an “enemy of the nation”. The district attorney began to move.
Ankara has always denied the use of chemical weapons. Ministry of Defense, Hulusi Akarhe argues that the army uses “only” “tear gas, and no other type of weapon” to try to expel guerrillas from caves which, due to their position, cannot be attacked by other means.
But tear gas, the opposition points out, can be considered a banned chemical agent in war theaters. The largest opposition party, the Social Democrat CHP, denounced the arrest of Financi in the voice of a senior official: “It is unacceptable and tries to hide the crimes of the government”.
