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Turkish war crimes

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A building inYüksekova,Hakkari Province,partly destroyed by tank shells from a Turkish operation in the2016 Hakkari clashes[tr].

Turkish war crimesare violations ofinternational criminal law(includingwar crimes,crimes against humanityand thecrime of genocide) which theofficial armedandparamilitary forcesofTurkeyhave committed or are accused of committing. These accusations also extend to the aiding and abetting of crimes committed by non-state actors aligned with Turkey, includingrebel groups in Syria.These war crimes have included massacres,torture,terrorism,deportationorforced transfers,kidnapping,sexual violence,looting,unlawful confinement,unlawful airstrikes and attacks on civilian structures.

Definition

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War crimesare defined as acts which violate thelaws and customs of warestablished by theHague Conventions of 1899 and 1907,or acts that are grave breaches of theGeneva ConventionsandAdditional Protocol IandAdditional Protocol II.[1]TheFourth Geneva Conventionof 1949 extends the protection of civilians andprisoners of warduringmilitary occupation,even in the case where there is no armed resistance, for the period of one year after the end of hostilities, although the occupying power should be bound to several provisions of the convention as long as "such Power exercises the functions of government in such territory."[2][3]

Background

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Main articles:Military history of Turkey,War crimes in World War I § Ottoman war crimes,andXenophobia and discrimination in Turkey
Further information:Prosecution of Ottoman war criminals after World War IandIstanbul trials of 1919–1920

Genocides and campaigns of ethnic cleansing

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Main articles:Armenian genocide,Greek genocide,andSayfo
Further information:1915 genocide in DiyarbekirandPopulation transfer in the Ottoman Empire
See also:Late Ottoman genocidesandArmenian genocide denial
Remains ofArmenianskilled at theDeir ez-Zor camps,1915

In thefinal yearsof theOttoman Empire's existence, theCommittee of Union and Progress(CUP)committed a genocideagainst theempire's Armenian population.[4][5][6]The Ottomans carried out organised, systematic massacres and deportations of Armenians throughoutWorld War I,and they portrayed acts of resistance by Armenians as rebellions in an attempt to justify their extermination campaign.[7]In early 1915, a number of Armenians volunteered to join theRussian forces,and theOttoman governmentused this as a pretext to issue theTehcir Law(Law on Deportation), which authorised the deportation of Armenians from the Empire's eastern provinces to Syria between 1915 and 1918. The Armenians were intentionallymarched to death,and a large number of them were attacked by Ottoman brigands.[8]While the exact number of deaths is unknown, theInternational Association of Genocide Scholarsestimates that 1.5 million Armenians were killed.[4][9]Thegovernment of Turkeyhas consistentlydenied the genocide,arguing that those who died were victims of inter-ethnic fighting, famine, or disease during World WarI; these claims are rejected by most historians.[10]

Assyrian refugees, with meager food
Assyrian refugees fromTyariandTkhumanearUrmia,Iranin late 1915

Other ethnic groups were also attacked by the Ottoman Empire during this period, includingAssyriansandGreeks,and some scholars consider those events different parts of thesame policy of extermination.[11][12][13]An estimated 250,000 Assyrian Christians (about half of the population) and 350,000–750,000Greekswere killed between 1915 and 1922.[14]According to the Rudolph Rummel, during 1900 and 1923, Turkish regime massacred from 4,500,000 to 5,300,000 Christian Greek, Armenian, Assyrian and other Christian groups.[15]

Treatment of prisoners of war

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The Ottoman Empire often treated POWs poorly.[16]Some 11,800British Empiresoldiers, most of themIndians,became prisoners after the 1915–1916siege of KutinMesopotamia;4,250 died in captivity.[17]Although many were in a poor condition when captured, Ottoman officers forced them to march 1,100 kilometres (684 mi) toAnatolia.A survivor said: "We were driven along like beasts; to drop out was to die."[18]

Turkish War of Independence

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Main article:Turkish War of Independence
See also:Population exchange between Greece and Turkey,Armenian genocide § Turkish War of Independence,andGreek genocide § Greco-Turkish War
ArmeniansfleeingKarsduring theTurkish–Armenian War(1920)

Vahagn Avedian argues that theTurkish War of Independencewas not directed against theAllied Powers,but that its main objective was to get rid of non-Turkish minority groups. TheTurkish National Movement,led byMustafa Kemal Atatürk,maintained the aggressive policies of the CUP against Christians;[19]most former members of the CUP joined the movement,[20][21][22]and were active participants in the war.[23]

It was stated in a secret telegram from Foreign MinisterAhmet Muhtar Mollaoğluto GeneralKâzım Karabekir(who would launch aninvasion of Armeniain 1920): "the most important thing is to eliminate Armenia physically and politically".[24][25]Rıza Nur,one of the Turkish delegates atLausanne,wrote that "disposing of people of different races, languages and religions in our country is the most… vital issue".[26]Avedian holds that the existence of theArmenian Republicwas considered as the "greatest threat" for the continuation of Turkish state, and that for this reason, they "fulfilled the genocidal policy of its CUP predecessor". After the Christian population was destroyed, the focus shifted to theKurdishpopulation.[19]HistorianErik Sjöbergsaid that "It seems, in the end, unlikely that the Turkish Nationalist leaders, though secular in name, ever had any intention of allowing any sizeable non-Muslim minority to remain."[26]

Raymond Kévorkianstates that "removing non-Turks from the sanctuary ofAnatolia"was among the main activities of the Turkish Nationalists after World War I.[27]Preventing Armenians and other Christians from returning home, and therefore allowing their properties to be retained by those who had stolen them during the war, was a key factor in securing popular support for the Turkish National Movement.[28]Christian civilians were subjected to forced deportation to expel them from the country, a policy that continued after the war.[29]These deportations were similar to those employed during the Armenian genocide, and caused many deaths.[30]Many Greek men were conscripted into unarmedlabor battalionswhere the death rate sometimes exceeded 90 percent.[31]Over 1 millionGreekswere expelled (as were all remaining Armenians in the areas ofDiyarbekir,Mardin,Urfa,Harput,andMalatia), forced across the border intoFrench-mandated Syria.[32]

Massacre of Armenians at Marash

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Main article:Battle of Marash

During the 1920Battle of Marash,thousands ofrepatriatedArmenians were massacred byTurkish militias;a surgeon at a nearby hospital reported that around 3,000 Armenians at the Church ofSaint Stephenhad been killed by Turkish,KurdishandCherkessvillagers.[33]Some Armenians tried to hide in church buildings and schools,[34]but eventually, all churches, and entire Armenian districts inMarash,were burnt to the ground.[35][36]Early reports put the number of Armenian dead at no less than 16,000, although this was later revised down to 5,000–12,000, which were considered far more likely figures.[37][38]

Samsun deportations

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Main article:Samsun deportations

The Turkish National Movement continued the genocidal, Ottoman-era policies towards Greeks during the war of independence.[39][40][41]During the late spring of 1921, armed militias led byTopal Osmanlooted and burned Greek settlements aroundSamsunand massacred the civilian Greek population. Those who were not already killed were deported, being sent ondeath marchesinto the Anatolian interior.[42][43]On 16 June 1921, theTurkish nationalist governmentofAnkaraauthorized the deportation of all Greek males between ages 16 and 50 who remained in Samsun, andmass arrestsof local Greeks began the same day;[44]however, in practice, all Greeks in the area (including women, children and elderly men) became targets of deportations and death marches.[45]

Roughly 21,000 people were deported from Samsun,[46]and by September 1922, the city had almost no Greeks left.[47]

Human rights violations at Smyrna

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Main article:Burning of Smyrna § Entry of the Turkish Army
Thousands of people huddled around the waters edge in Smyrna, trying to escape the fire, 1922

After occupying the city ofSmyrnaon 9 September 1922, Turkish forces began to systemically target local Greeks and Armenians, committing massacres against them, looting their shops and homes, and sexually assaulting women.[48][49][50]The Greek OrthodoxMetropolitan bishop,Chrysostomos,was tortured and hacked to death by a Turkish mob.[51]Aftera fire broke outin the city four days later,[52]Turkish troops reportedly prevented Armenians and Greeks within the fire zone from fleeing.[53]In general, Turkish soldiers and irregulars periodically robbed Greek refugees, beating some, and arresting others who resisted. According to American naval captainArthur Japy Hepburn(who witnessed the burning of the city), "every able-bodied Armenian man was hunted down and killed wherever found".[54]

The number of Greek and Armenian men deported from Smyrna to the interior of Anatolia, and the number who died as a result, varies across sources.Norman Naimarkwrites that 30,000 Greek and Armenian men were deported, where most of them died under brutal conditions.[55]Dimitrije Đorđevićputs the number of deportees at 25,000 and the number of deaths atlabour battalionsat 10,000.[56]David Abulafiastates that at least 100,000 Greeks were forcibly sent to the interior of Anatolia, where most of them died.[57]

Alleged role in the burning of Smyrna

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This section is an excerpt fromResponsibility for the burning of Smyrna.[edit]
The question of who was responsible for starting theburning of Smyrnacontinues to be debated, with Turkish sources mostly attributing responsibility to Greeks or Armenians, and vice versa. Other sources, on the other hand, suggest that at the very least, Turkish inactivity played a significant part on the event.[58]

War crimes against Turkish Kurds

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Further information:Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey

Early repressions of Kurds (1916–1934)

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Main articles:Deportations of Kurds (1916–1934)and1934 Turkish Resettlement Law

The policy ofdeportingOttoman Kurdsfrom theirindigenous landsbegan during World War I under the orders ofTalaat Pasha,and continued after the founding of the Republic of Turkey.[59]Although many Kurds were loyal to the empire (with some even supporting thepersecutionofChristian minoritiesby the CUP), Turkish authorities nevertheless feared the possibility that they would collaborate with Armenians andRussiansto establish their ownKurdish state.[60]In 1916, roughly 300,000 Kurds were deported fromBitlis,Erzurum,PaluandMuştoKonyaandGaziantepduring the winter, and most died in afamine.[61]

The official policy of the newly-founded Turkey was to dismantle traditional Kurdish Islamic tribal society and institutions, as well as to continue with the CUP'srepressiveandassimilationist policies.[62][63]Consequently, the Kurds began to mobilize for a resistance, culminating with theSheikh Said rebellionin 1925, which prompted the mobilization of half of the Turkish army and a bombing campaign against the Kurds. The rebellion was ultimately crushed andSheikh Saidexecuted. later that year, the government initiated apogrominDiyarbakir,executing civilians and burning villages to the ground, which in total destroyed about 206 villages and killed 15,200 people.[64]By late 1925, a new deportation law was implemented and the Kurdish elite – numbering about 500 – were deported to western Turkey.[65]

Zilan massacre

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Main article:Zilan massacre

In mid-1930, during theArarat rebellion,[66]the Turkish Armed Forces committed large-scale massacres against Kurdish villages inAğrı Provincethat showed support for the rebels, killing between 4,500[67]to 15,000 people, many of them civilians.[68][69][70]According toCumhuriyet,the massacres left the Zilan River full ofcorpses,and villages on the outskirts ofMount Araratwere burned to the ground.[71]The BritishForeign Officeargued "that the Turkish 'success' nearErgishand Zilan [was, in reality,] gained over a fewarmed menand a large percentage ofnon-combatants."[72]

Massacres in the Dersim region

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Main article:Dersim rebellion
Women and children from Dersim, displaced after the Turkish Army destroyed their homes (1938)

In response to theDersim rebellion,the Turkish Armed Forces launched military operations in 1937 and 1938 that devastated the region,[73]killing between 13,000[74]to 40,000 people,[75]and forcibly deporting 3,000 more.[76]

On 23 November 2011, Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğanapologized "on behalf of the state" over the killing of over 13,000 people during the rebellion.[77]He described the massacre as "one of the most tragic events of our near history" saying that, while some sought to justify it as a legitimate response to events on the ground, it was in reality "an operation which was planned step by step".[78]

Conflicts since 1978

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Main article:Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)
Funeral procession for the victims of theRoboski massacre,2011

Since the 1970s, the European Court of Human Rights has condemned Turkey for thousands of human rights abuses againstKurdish people.[79][80]The judgments are related to systematic executions of Kurdish civilians, forced recruitments,[81]torturing,[82]forced displacements,[83]thousands of destroyed villages,[84]arbitrary arrests,[85]murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists.[86]According to David L. Philips, more than 1,500 people affiliated with the Kurdish opposition parties and organizations were murdered by unidentified assailants between 1986 and 1996. Government-backed mercenaries assassinated hundreds of suspectedPKKsympathizers.[87]The Turkish government is held responsible by Turkish human rights organizations for at least 3,438 civilian deaths in the conflict between 1987 and 2000.[88]

At the beginning of the conflict, the PKK's relationship with its civilian supporters created incentives for the Turkish government to useterrorismagainst Kurdish citizens in the Kurdish dominated southeast region of Turkey.[89]Since the early 1980s, the authorities have systematically used arbitrary arrests, executions of suspects, excessive force, and torture to suppress opposition.[90]In 1995,Human Rights Watchreported that it was common practice for Turkish soldiers to kill Kurdish civilians and take pictures of their corpses with weapons they carried only for staging the events. Killed civilians were shown to press as PKK "terrorists".[91]

House destroyed duringclashesinŞırnak Province,March 2016

In January 2016, during aperiod of escalationin the conflict, more than 1,000 scholars and academics (from 90 Turkish Universities and abroad) signed apetitionentitled "We will be not a party to this crime!", calling for an end to the government's crackdown on Kurdish activists and politicians, and a resumption of thepeace process.They also criticized the use oftanksin urban centers, calling it a deliberate massacre of Kurdish people.[92][93][94]

Imprisonment, torture and enforced disappearances of Kurds

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Further information:Torture in TurkeyandDiyarbakır Prison

Since the 1990s,Turkish security services had resorted toenforced disappearances,wherein Kurds would be detained and never seen again, with only eyewitnesses coming forward to tell the story.[95][96]In 1997,Amnesty Internationalreported that disappearances and extrajudicial executions had emerged as new and disturbing patterns of human rights violations by the Turkish state.[97][98]According to theHuman Rights Association (İHD),there have been 940 cases of enforced disappearance since the 1990s. In addition to that, more than 3,248 people who were murdered in extrajudicial killings are believed to have been buried in 253 separate burial places. On 6 January 2011, the bodies of 12 people were found in a mass grave near an old police station in Mutki,Bitlis.A few months later, three other mass graves were reportedly found in the garden of Çemişgezek police station.[99][100][101]

In 2017, theStockholm Center for Freedom(SCF) documented eleven cases since 2016 in which people have been abducted by men identifying themselves as police officers, then forced into transit vans. Family members were unable to find out their locations from the state, indicating that they were detained secretly or by clandestine groups. In a case where one was finally located after 42 days missing, he was tortured for days, forced to sign a confession and handed over to police.[102]

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty both released reports of widespread torture andrape of prisonersin Turkey spanning multiple decades, with Kurdish women – particularly those accused of helping the PKK – being frequent targets of sexual violence.[103][104][105]

Depopulation of Kurdish villages in Turkey

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Further information:Kurdish villages depopulated by Turkey
A previously depopulated Kurdish village;Ulaş,Dargeçit

Until the 1970s, about 70% of theKurdishpopulation ofTurkish Kurdistan,inhabited one of the approximately 20,000 Kurdish villages. But by 1985, only 58% of the population were still living in the rural areas; much of the countryside in Kurdish populated regions had been depopulated by the Turkish government,[106]with Kurdish civilians moving to inDiyarbakır,VanandŞırnak,as well as to the cities of western Turkey. The causes of the depopulation were, in most cases, the Turkish state's military operations, and to a lesser extent, attacks by thePKKon villages it believed to be collaborating with the government.[106]Human Rights Watch documented many instances where the Turkish military forcibly evacuated villages, destroying houses and equipment to prevent the return of the inhabitants.[107]An estimated 3,000 Kurdish villages inSoutheast Anatolia[106]were virtually wiped from the map, representing the displacement of more than 378,000 people by 2005.[107]During the 1990s, the Turkish military reportedly deployedSikorskyandCobrahelicopters to drive out the Kurdish population from the villages.[108]

In November 1992, Turkish authorities demanded theMuhtarof theKelekçivillage to evacuate all their inhabitants. But as the villagers gathered in an area, theTurkish gendarmerie(using heavy weapons in armored vehicles) began firing at the villagers and their houses. Soldiers set fire to and destroyed 136 houses. Some of the villagers escaped to nearby towns. On the 6 April 1993, the Turkish authorities returned and set fire to the remaining houses. Beforeits destruction,the village had a population of 500 inhabitants.[109]Similarly, in March 1994, 38 Kurds were killed and their villages ofKoçağılı and Kuşkonarwere destroyed as a result of a bombing campaign by the Turkish Armed Forces.[81][110][111][112][113]

Collective punishment of Kurdish people

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On 21 January 2016, a report published by Amnesty International stated that more than 150 civilians had been killed inCizre.They reported that curfews had been imposed in more than 19 different towns and districts, putting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people at risk. Additionally, the report stated that the government's disproportionate restrictions on movement and other arbitrary measures were resemblingcollective punishment,a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.[114][115]

Turkish invasion of Cyprus

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Main article:Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Further information:Northern CyprusandTurkish settlers in Northern Cyprus
De factodivision of Cyprus since 1974

Turkey was found guilty by theEuropean Commission of Human Rightsfor displacement of persons, deprivation of liberty, ill treatment, deprivation of life and deprivation of possessions duringtheir invasion of Cyprus.[116][117]The Turkish policy of violently forcing a third of the island's Greek population from their homes in the occupied North, preventing their return, and settling Turks from mainland Turkey is considered an example ofethnic cleansing.[118][119]

In 1976, and again in 1983, the European Commission of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of repeated violations of theEuropean Convention of Human Rights.Turkey has been condemned for preventing the return ofGreek Cypriotrefugees to their properties.[120]The European Commission of Human Rights reports of 1976 and 1983 states that:

Having found violations of a number of Articles of the Convention, the Commission notes that the acts violating the Convention were exclusively directed against members of one of two communities in Cyprus, namely the Greek Cypriot community. It concludes by eleven votes to three that Turkey has thus failed to secure the rights and freedoms set forth in these Articles without discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin, race, religion as required byArticle 14of the Convention.[120]

Enclaved Greek Cypriotsin theKarpass Peninsulain 1975 were subjected by the Turks to violations of their human rights so that by 2001 when the European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of the violation of 14 articles of the European Convention of Human Rights in its judgement ofCyprus v Turkey(application no. 25781/94), less than 600 still remained. In the same judgement, Turkey was found guilty of violating the rights of the Turkish Cypriots by authorising the trial of civilians by amilitary court.[121][122]

Looted Greek cemetery in Northern Cyprus, 2008

The European commission of Human Rights with 12 votes against 1, accepted evidence from the Republic of Cyprus, concerning the rapes of various Greek-Cypriot women by Turkish soldiers and the torture of many Greek-Cypriot prisoners during the invasion of the island.[117]The high rate of rape reportedly resulted in the temporary permission ofabortion in Cyprusby the conservativeCypriot Orthodox Church.[116][123][124]According to Paul Sant Cassia, rape was used systematically to "soften" resistance and clear civilian areas through fear. Many of the atrocities were seen as revenge for the atrocities against Turkish Cypriots in 1963–64 and the massacres during the first invasion.[125]It has been suggested that many of the atrocities were revenge killings, committed by Turkish Cypriot fighters in military uniform who might have been mistaken for Turkish soldiers.[126]In theKarpass Peninsula,a group of Turkish Cypriots reportedly chose young girls to rape and impregnated teenage girls. There were cases of rapes, which included gang rapes, of teenage girls by Turkish soldiers and Turkish Cypriot men in the peninsula, and one case involved the rape of an old Greek Cypriot man by a Turkish Cypriot. The man was reportedly identified by the victim and two other rapists were also arrested. Raped women were sometimes outcast from society.[127]

As a result of the invasion, over 2000 Greek-Cypriot prisoners of war were taken to Turkey and detained in Turkish prisons. Some of them were not released and are still missing. In particular, the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus, which operates under the auspices of the United Nations, is mandated to investigate approximately 1600 cases of Greek Cypriot and Greek missing persons.[128]

Legality of the invasion

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Further information:Cyprus problem
See also:Treaty of Guarantee (1960)andUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 367

Article Four of theTreaty of Guaranteegives the right to guarantors of Cyprus (Turkey,Greece,and the United Kingdom) to take action with the sole aim of re-establishing the state of affairs.[129]Turkey intervened afterGreece's military juntatried to create aunion with Cyprusby force,[130][131]and theCouncil of Europesupported the legality of the first wave of the Turkish invasion that occurred in July 1974.[132][133]However, theUnited Nations Security Councilchallenged the legality of Turkey's actions after this point, as the aftermath of the invasion did not safeguard the Republic's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but had the opposite effect: thede factopartition of the Republicand the creation of a separate political entity in the north. On 13 February 1975, Turkey declared the occupied areas of the Republic of Cyprus to be a "Federated Turkish State",[134]to the widespread condemnation of international observers.[135][136]

Syrian civil war

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Main articles:Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil warandWar crimes in the Syrian civil war
Further information:Turkish occupation of northern SyriaandTurkish-backed Free Syrian Army
A child left disabled by Turkish airstrikes onQamishli,2019

The 2021 and 2022Country Reports on Human Rights Practicesmentioned that Turkish-affiliated groups committed human rights abuses in Syria, including killings, torture, sexual violence, enforced demographic changes targetingSyrian Kurds,recruitment of child soldiers, and the looting and desecration of religious sites.[137][138]

TheUN Commission of Inquiry for Syria,theOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightsand human rights organisations reported that groups supported by Turkey have tortured and killed civilians. TheSyrian National Army(SNA) justice system and detention network is under the command of the Turkish forces, and the UN commission reported on the presence of Turkish officials in interrogation sessions where torture was used. The Turkish supportedSultan Murad DivisionandAhrar al-Sharqiyahas also been accused of war crimes.[137][139]

In March 2020, a UN report accused rebels allied to Turkey for abuses on Kurdish-held areas during an assault, and said if the rebels were acting under the control of Turkish forces, the Turkish commanders may be liable for war crimes. In addition, it called on Turkey to investigate whether it was responsible for an air raid on a civilian convoy nearRas al-Ayn.Turkey denied a role in the attack, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that it was conducted by Turkish aircraft.[140]In September 2020, United Nations asked Turkey to investigate possible war crimes and other human rights violations carried out by Turkish-affiliated groups in the area that Turkey controls in Syria. Turkey accused the UN Human Rights Office of baseless claims and "undue criticism".[141]TheOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightssaid that in the areas controlled by Turkey the number of crimes against civilians have been increased.[142]

Alleged Turkish complicity and cooperation with the Islamic State

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See also:Human rights in Islamic State-controlled territoryandTurkey–Islamic State conflict

Since mid-2014, both thePKKand international media have accused Turkey of supporting and collaborating with theIslamic State(IS),[143][144][145]anIslamistmilitant group known for committing numerouscrimes against humanity.[146][147]Several of the allegation have focused on Turkish businessman and politicianBerat Albayrak,who has faced calls for his prosecution in the United States.[148][149]When the Islamic State kidnapped 49Turkish diplomatsfromMosulin June 2014, a columnist said that Turkey was now "paying the price of its collaboration with terrorists", in reference to theIslamistfactions in theTurkish-backed FSA.[150]

Some news websites also criticised Turkey for "doing nothing" against the Islamic State.[151][152]American websiteAl-Monitorstated in June 2014 that Turkey, by "ignoring its own border security", had allowed its border with Syria to become a "jihadist highway" for the Islamic State to let thousands of international jihadists, and other supplies, be smuggled to them in Syria.[153][154]British newspaperThe Guardianstated that Turkey had spent months "[doing] little to stop foreign recruits crossing its border to ISIS".[155]In April 2018,Foreign Policystated that in 2013 alone, some 30,000 militants illegally crossed into Turkish land, as theSyria–Turkey borderwas popular among foreign volunteers illegally crossing it to join the Islamic State in Syria. Furthermore, it was claimed that wounded Islamic State militants were treated inprivate-owned hospitalsacross southeastern Turkey. Among those receiving care was one of the top deputies of Islamic State chieftain Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Ahmet el-H, who was treated in a private hospital inSanliurfain August 2014.[156]

Islamic State's attacks on Kobanî

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Main article:Kobanî massacre
Further information:Siege of Kobanî

On 25 June 2015, Islamic State fighters detonated threecar bombsinKobanî,close to the Turkish border crossing.[157]The IS fighters were reported to have disguised themselves as Kurdish security forces, before entering the town and shooting civilians with assault rifles and RPGs.[158]IS also committed a massacre in the village of Barkh Butan, about 20 kilometres south of Kobanî, executing at least 26 Syrian Kurds, among them women and children.[159]Kurdish rebel forces and theSyrian governmentclaimed the vehicles had entered the city from across the international border.[160]The pro-KurdishPeoples' Democratic Partyin Turkey argued that the Turkish government under Erdoğan supported the Islamic State, and that theKobanî massacrewas "a part of this support", a claim that Erdoğan himself rejected.[161]

Operation Olive Branch and occupation of Afrin

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Main articles:Operation Olive BranchandAfrin offensive (January–March 2018)
Timeline of the 2018Afrin offensive

Less than a week after Turkey launchedOperation Olive Branchin 2018, Redur Xelil, a seniorSDFofficial, said that at least 66 civilians were killed by aerial and artillery bombardment from Turkish forces, and accused Turkey of committing war crimes.[162]Amnesty Internationalreported that civilians were being killed by the Turkish Army due to indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas, an act that is in violation of international law. According to Amnesty, the situation "painted a grim picture" throughout numerous villages inAfrin,within which civilians were subjected to indiscriminate shelling that lasted for hours. They stated: "The use of artillery and other imprecise explosive weapons in civilian areas is prohibited by international humanitarian law and all parties should cease such attacks immediately."[163]

On 22 February 2018, Syrian government news outlets stated that Turkey was bombing humanitarian aid convoys that were on their way to Afrin. As a result, the Syrian ArabRed Crescentstated that they had suspended all aid convoys to Afrin because it was unsafe for them to head there.[164]On the same day, a video surfaced that showed Turkish backed rebels executing a civilian driving a farm tractor. This was followed by another video by the same group that showed a summary execution of 6 civilians, including one woman nearJendires.[165]In another bombing in the same area, Kurdish militia claimed that Turkish air strikes had killed 13 civilians, including several children.[166]

TheSyrian Observatory for Human Rightsestimates that around of 300,000 Kurdish people were displaced by the offensive.[167]In the aftermath of the conflict, Turkish forces implemented aresettlement policyby moving refugees from EasternGhoutainto the newly-empty homes. Many houses, farms, and other private property belonging to those that fled the conflict have been seized or looted by Turkish-backed rebels.[168]In a study of 24 key informants from Afrin, all reported loss of housing, land or property following Operation Olive Branch.[169]This led to accusations by both activists and residents that Turkey was engaging indemographic engineeringor ethnic cleansing in Afrin.[170][171][172][173]

2019 offensive into north-eastern Syria

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Main article:2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria

In October 2019, a report byAmnesty Internationalaccused Turkey and its allies for war crimes.[174]Kumi Naidoosaid that the Turkish military and their allies do not care about civilian lives,[175]and the United States special envoy for Syria said that they had seen evidence of war crimes during Turkey's offensive against the Kurds in Syria, and had demanded an explanation from Turkey. U.S. officials were investigating a report that therestricted burning white phosphorushad been used during the Turkish offensive. Turkish officials denied that war crimes were committed.[176]The United States Secretary of Defense,Mark Esper,said in an interview that Turkey "appears to be" committing war crimes in Syria, adding that there was footage showing the execution of Kurdish captives.[177][178]

A checkpoint nearRas al-Ayn,abandoned by theSyrian Democratic Forcesafter the 2019 Turkish offensive into Syria.

TheInternational Bar Associationcondemned the assaults against Syrian Kurds by Turkish forces in northern Syria, and called on Turkey to halt the attacks and respect the civilians as it is obligated by international laws, after the reports of Turkish-backed militias executing civilians.[179]Furthermore, the same month during the hearing of theUS Committee on Foreign RelationswhenSenator Cardinasked the ambassadorJeffreyif he is aware of reports of the United Nations and other groups about war crimes which have been committed by the Turkish forces in their invasion into Syria, the ambassador said:

We have seen some preliminary concerns. We have not seen any detailed reporting. The detailed reporting, of course—and there are volumes of it—is on the Assad regime's actions throughout Syria. But we are very, very concerned about what we and all of us have seen on video footage and some of the reports that we have received from our SDF colleagues, and we are looking into those as I speak.[180]

When then was asked if he was aware of Turkish war crimes, he stated that "in at least one instance", Turkish-backed Syrian rebels committed war crimes, and that they were "reach[ing] out to Turkey to demand an explanation."[180]

In November 2019, Turkish-backed forces were accused of committing war crimes after mobile phone footage surfaced showing themdesecratingthe bodies of dead Kurdish fighters. The UN warned that Turkey could be held responsible for the actions of its allies, while Turkey promised to investigate. U.S. officials said that some of the actions in these videos probably constitute war crimes.[181]In addition, U.S. drones appeared to show Turkish-backed forces targeting civilians during their assault on Kurdish areas in Syria, these actions reported as possible war crimes.[182][183]Democratic Maryland SenatorChris Van Hollenaccused the Erdogan of "using Jihadi proxies that include a lot of al Qaeda elements and they are committing human rights abuses, including that the Trump Administration has acknowledged are war crimes." The US State Department spokeswomanMorgan Ortagustold CNN "we had serious concerns regarding reports that the Turkish-Supported Opposition may have engaged in violations of the law of armed conflict in northeast Syria, including reports of the killing of unarmed civilians and prisoners and reports of ethnic cleansing," adding that "those concerns remain."[183]

Targeting of journalists and politicians

[edit]

Serena Shim,a journalist ofPress TV,was killed at a car crash with a heavy vehicle in Turkey in what are said, by her employer and her parents, to be suspicious circumstances. The car crash happened just days after she said that the Turkey's state intelligence agency,MIT,had threatened her and said she was spying, due to some of the stories she had covered about Turkey's stance on ISIL militants in Kobane. She also said that she had received images of ISIL militants crossing the Turkish border into Syria in World Food Organization and otherNGOstrucks.[184][185]

Turkish journalist Arzu Yildiz was sentenced to 20 months in jail and lost her parental rights after showing a video related to a weapons-smuggling scandal denied by the Turkish government, in what her lawyer said was "an act of revenge" by Recep Tayyip Erdogan.[186]

On 12 October 2019, the Turkish-backedAhrar al-Sharqiyamurdered the Kurdish-Syrian politicianHevrin Khalaf.[183][137]

Antiquities smuggling

[edit]

In 2015, Syria's antiquities chief has said Turkey was refusing to return looted objects from ancient heritage sites in Syria or to provide information about them.[187]Turkey is also said to letISILsmuggles Syrian antiquities through it.[188]In an official letter to UN, the Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin stated that antiquities from Syria and Iraq are exported to Turkey. The main center for the smuggling of cultural heritage items is the Turkish city of Gaziantep, where the stolen goods are sold at illegal auctions. According to the envoy, new smuggling hubs are popping up on the Turkish-Syrian border, with the "bulky goods" being delivered by the Turkish transport companies. Smuggled artifacts then arrive in the Turkish cities of Izmir, Mersin and Antalya, where representatives of international criminal groups produce fake documents on the origin of the antiquities. Turkey responded that she will investigate the claims but believes that the accusations are politically motivated.[189]

Later on, reports emerged in 2019 that following the Operation Olive Branch, more than 16,000 artifacts such as glass, pottery and mosaics mostly fromAfrin District,were looted and smuggled to Turkey by Syrian rebels.[190]

In 2022, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed that Turkish-backed forces illegally do excavations in northern Syria. They are using explosives and heavy equipments which destroy the ancient sites. Many also accused Turkey of turning a blind eye in these activities. Turkey in response, according to the Turkishdefence,interiorandculture and tourismministries, deployed Turkish soldiers in some of the ancient sites in Syria and started operation to retrieve Syrian smuggled items in Turkey.[191]

Disruption of water supplies

[edit]

In March 2020, nongovernmental organizations, theWorld Health Organizationand the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria said that the water supply from the Alouk pumping station has been repeatedly interrupted after Turkey and its allies took control of the Allouk water station after the Turkish offensive in October 2019. In addition, local authorities and humanitarian groups in Northeast Syria said that they are unable to bring additional supplies into the region because the border with the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is closed. They all warned that doing these in the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemicis very dangerous.[192][193][194]

Child soldiers in Syria and Libya

[edit]
See also:Turkish intervention in Libya (2020–present)

The Turkish government linked think tankSETAwithdrew a report detailing the composition of theSyrian National Armyas it revealed the use ofchild soldiers.In addition, according to a report by Al-Monitor, citing sources on the ground, Turkey has deployed toLibyachild soldiers from Syria.[195][196]Of the 18,000 Syrian fighters Turkey sent to Libya in September 2020, 350 were children;[197]34 of the 471 fighters killed by August that year were also children.[198]

In July 2021, the United States of America added Turkey to the list of countries that implicated in the use of child soldiers, because it used them in Syria and Libya.[199]The 2021 and 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices also mentioned the recruitment of child soldiers from Turkish-supported forces.[137][138]Trafficking in Persons Reports mentioned that Turkey provided support (operational, equipment and financial) to armed groups in Syria which recruit and use child soldiers.[200][201][202]

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Bibliography

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Further reading

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