Lawyers from Around the World Call for a ‘World Without Wars and Borders’

* Photo: Ayça Söylemez - bianet

Click to read the article in Turkish

806 lawyers from Turkey, Greece, the US, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Japan, Catalonia, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Nepal, Poland and Tunisia have made a call for a "World Without Wars and Borders".

Calling on "Turkey and other states to withdraw from Syria immediately and to abandon their policies of war", the lawyers have stressed that "the use of refugee lives as bargaining chips should be ended immediately and their life safety should be ensured as soon as possible."

Underlining that what has been happening at Turkey-Greece border since late February tramples upon international law and fundamental human rights, the joint statement has also been signed by the Bar Associations of Adana, Antalya, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Antep, İzmir, Mardin, Mersin, Urfa and Van from Turkey. The lawyers have stated the following:

'End war and border policies immediately'

"What is happening at Turkey-Greece border today is trampling upon international law and fundamental human rights.

"Refugees from different communities of the world who had to abandon their lands due to the wars of power holders are now struggling for their lives between two coasts of the Aegean Sea.

"War and border policies should be ended immediately, the use of refugees as elements of blackmail for these policies and physical attacks that aim to kill refugees should be abandoned to eliminate this situation.

"For these reasons, we - the undersigned lawyers - are calling on everyone to stand up against the war and border policies of states in the face of these developments and demand the following:

"Turkey and other states should withdraw from Syria as soon as possible and abandon their war policies.

"End the use of refugee lives as bargaining chips immediately and ensure the life safety of refugees as soon as possible."

Click here for the signatories

(EKN/SD)