Allegations of chemical attack on PKK: Who says what?

Türkiye launched its latest operation in Iraqi Kurdistan in mid-April. (Photo: AA/File)

• A pro-Kurdish news agency released a video allegedly showing two PKK members suffering from exposure to chemical weapons

• The HDP called on the OPCW and the UN to investigate the incident

• The OPCW said only a member state of it can trigger an investigation

• The Turkish Medical Association head said the claims were accurate. Prosecutors are now investigating her for "terrorist propaganda"

• Senior government officials and the Ministry of Defense denied the allegations, noting that similar claims are brought up "periodically"

Türkiye's government has dismissed the allegations that it carried out a chemical attack on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

On Tuesday (October 18), the Fırat News Agency (ANF) released a video clip of two PKK members allegedly exposed to chemical weapons.

The video shows a man having a seizure, and a woman showing delirious behavior, which the report claims was caused by toxic gasses. Both people eventually died due to the exposure, according to the report.

Citing a statement from the PKK, the ANF report said Türkiye had used chemical weapons at least 2,476 times in the last six months during its military operations in Kurdistan.

Türkiye has intensified its cross-border operations targeting the PKK since 2019. The latest operation, dubbed as the "Operation Claw-Lock," has been going on in the mountainous regions of Metina, Zap and Avasin-Basyan since mid-April.

The PKK, which has been waging an armed insurgency against Türkiye since 1984, has long accused it of using chemical weapons.

Calls for an investigation

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) on Tuesday released a written statement, demanding the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations investigate the claims.

"There are serious reports and allegations that Turkey has been using chemical agents in its military operations in the territories of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq since 2021, which, according to international law, constitutes a war crime," it said.

Meanwhile, the OPCW said on Twitter yesterday that such an investigation can only be triggered by a member state of it.

Selahattin Demirtaş, the imprisoned former co-chair of the HDP, also said the claims should be investigated.

"The parliament of Türkiye and the opposition cannot keep silent in the face of these images. Keeping silent means giving approval to a crime," he wrote on Twitter yesterday.

Meral Danış-Beştaş, deputy chair of the HDP parliamentary group, submitted a parliamentary question to Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar, asking him to clarify the allegations.

Sezin Tanrıkulu, an MP for the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was among those calling for an investigation of the claims on Twitter.

Comment from Turkish Medical Association head

Commenting on the video in question for Medya Haber TV, Şebnem Korur-Fincancı, head of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), said, "I have examined the videos. Obviously, toxic gasses that directly [affect] the nervous system have been used."

"Even though these gasses are banned, we, unfortunately, see that these are used in conflict," she remarked, adding that an independent investigation should be carried out in the region.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office today opened an investigation into Korur-Fincancı for "propagandizing for a terrorist organization" and "publicly degrading the Turkish Nation, the state of the Republic of Türkiye and its institutions."

Response from government officials

Government officials and the Ministry of National Defense firmly denied the claims.

In a Twitter post today, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said, "Chemical weapons lie is the futile effort of those who try to justify and aestheticize terrorism."

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Spokesperson Ömer Çelik also dismissed the allegations on Twitter, saying, "Those who accuse the Turkish Armed Forces of using chemical weapons are part of a vile slander network.

"These people try to show the murders of the terrorist organization innocent.

"Those who praise the murders of the PKK are attacking the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces] in the name of dirty groups."

The ministry statement

The Ministry of National Defense rejected the allegations in a written statement today.

"The allegations that 'chemical weapons' are used by the Turkish Armed Forces, which are periodically brought to the agenda by circles who want to tarnish the fight against terrorism... and to cast a shadow on the success of the Turkish Armed Forces, are completely baseless and unrealistic," the statement said.

The Turkish Armed Forces do not use ammunition "prohibited by international law and agreements," and does not have such ammunition in its inventory, according to the ministry.

"[The TSK] targets only terrorists and shows utmost care and sensitivity to ensure that civilians, historical, religious and cultural assets and the environment are not harmed.

"All these disinformation efforts are the futile struggles of the terrorist organization and its allies, who have come to the point of collapse as a result of the determined struggle of our heroic Turkish Armed Forces and are seeking a way out with false and immoral means to get out of the difficult situation they are in." (VK/PE)