Ayşe Gökkan applies for the use of chemical weapons to be investigated 

2022-12-30 16:59:59


	AMED - TJA Term Spokesperson Ayşe Gökkan applied to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office from the prison where she was detained and requested that the use of chemical weapons be investigated.

	Tevgera Jinen Azad (TJA) Term Spokesperson Ayşe Gökkan, who has been imprisoned since January 2021, applied to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding Turkey's chemical weapons attacks. Gökkan, who wanted the use of chemical weapons to be investigated, drew attention to the need for Turkey to comply with international conventions.

	 

	In the application Gökkan said: "The news (visual, written, audio news) that there is a criminal suspicion that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) used prohibited weapons on September 20-27, 2022 has created serious concerns. However, the Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar, as the person in charge of the TSK, denied the incident without any investigation being carried out at the scene of the incident, without the impartial committees consisting of experts. Forensic Medicine Specialist Prof. Dr. Şebnem Korur Fincancı has been arrested for expressing her opinion with preliminary visual images.”

	 

	REQUEST FOR INVESTIGATION

	 

	Reminding the conventions to which Turkey is a party states that the use of chemical weapons is a crime , Gökkan said in her application, “As it is known, the Geneva Protocol (protocol on the prohibition of the use of suffocating, poisonous and similar gases and bacteriological means in war) is an agreement that prohibits the use of biological and chemical weapons. Again, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control treaty that prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. The Treaty is administered by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). After the protocol, the CWC arranged a treaty banning the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons. The CWC was opened for signature in 1993 and entered into force in 1997. The Republic of Turkey became a party in the same year. It was emphasized that the obligations of the states party to the convention should be strictly controlled, believing that the complete and effective prohibition of the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer and use of chemical weapons and the destruction of these weapons is a necessary step towards achieving these common goals. Turkey, which is a party to the convention, is also obliged to fulfill its responsibilities against the suspicion of a crime regarding the use of prohibited weapons by fulfilling its obligations. I request the Ministry of National Defense to initiate an effective investigation against the Turkish Armed Forces.