Debates

Wednesday, 23 October 2019 - Strasbourg

The Turkish military operation in northeast Syria and its consequences (debate)

  Mick Wallace (GUE/NGL). – Madam President, Turkey has crossed the border and entered the sovereign country of Syria. It’s a violation of international law. Turkey has invaded Syria, not Kurdistan. We must express solidarity with the Kurdish people, but the territorial integrity of Syria is a matter for the Syrians to decide.

About 8% of the Kurds live in Syria and 50% of them live in Turkey, where they are treated abysmally, making Turkey an apartheid state in their behaviour. When the PKK fighters cross the border into Syria, they are called rebel fighters. When they come back into Turkey, they are called terrorists. And what is Europe doing about it? Sadly, Europe paid Turkey EUR 6 billion in the last two years to cage migrants whose homes were destroyed with the help of European countries. When is Europe going to stop behaving like this?