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Austrian parliament votes to restrict weapons sales to Turkey
November 25, 2016 by Editorial Staff in Politics
Austrian Parliament. Photo: Courtesy/UN
VIENNA,— The National Council of Austria on Thursday unanimously supported a motion for the government to restrict the sale of arms to Turkey, the Austria Press Agency reported.
All six parties to the council backed the motion, that urged the government to consider the “threat of armed conflicts” as well as the human rights situation when considering approval of such exports.
It additionally specified the treatment by the Erdogan government of journalists, opposition politicians, as well as the Kurdish population in Turkey as grounding for the motion.
“The applicants are thus convinced that under these circumstances no deliveries of war materials, defense goods or dual-use goods for military or police purposes to Turkey may take place from Austria,” it was stated.
The motion did not specifically refer to an “embargo” though its terms still remain open.
Leader of the People’s Party parliamentary group Reinhold Lopatka noted that Austria has not delivered war weapons to Turkey in recent times.
The European Parliament on Thursday voted in favour of a freeze of membership talks with Turkey over its post-coup crackdown, further escalating tensions with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tens of Kurdish politicians, mayors and parliamentarians from the Turkey’s Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and BDP were detained over links to PKK, including the Kurdish party co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.
More than 10,500 state employees have been dismissed over suspected links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK militant group, Turkish Labour Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Thursday.
In September, 24 Kurdish mayors in the southeast suspected of links to the PKK were suspended and replaced with officials close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) co-founded by Erdogan, a move that triggered protests in several cities in the region.
The government suspended 11,500 Kurdish teachers suspected of links to the PKK in September 2016.
In September 2016 the Turkish authorities have stopped broadcasts of 10 mostly Kurdish language television channels including the children’s channel Zarok TV.
US, EU, France, Germany and several parties in the European Union legislature have strongly condemned the detention of Kurdish politicians by Turkish authorities over “terrorism-related” investigations.
Since July 2015, Turkey initiated a controversial military campaign against the PKK in the country’s southeastern Kurdish region after Ankara ended a two-year ceasefire agreement. Since the beginning of the campaign, Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews, preventing civilians from fleeing regions where the military operations are being conducted.
Observers say the crackdown has taken a heavy toll on the Kurdish civilian population and accuse Turkey of using collective punishment against the minority.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population.
A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974, and has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.
http://ekurd.net/austrian-weapons-turkey-2016-11-25
November 25, 2016 by Editorial Staff in Politics
Austrian Parliament. Photo: Courtesy/UN
VIENNA,— The National Council of Austria on Thursday unanimously supported a motion for the government to restrict the sale of arms to Turkey, the Austria Press Agency reported.
All six parties to the council backed the motion, that urged the government to consider the “threat of armed conflicts” as well as the human rights situation when considering approval of such exports.
It additionally specified the treatment by the Erdogan government of journalists, opposition politicians, as well as the Kurdish population in Turkey as grounding for the motion.
“The applicants are thus convinced that under these circumstances no deliveries of war materials, defense goods or dual-use goods for military or police purposes to Turkey may take place from Austria,” it was stated.
The motion did not specifically refer to an “embargo” though its terms still remain open.
Leader of the People’s Party parliamentary group Reinhold Lopatka noted that Austria has not delivered war weapons to Turkey in recent times.
The European Parliament on Thursday voted in favour of a freeze of membership talks with Turkey over its post-coup crackdown, further escalating tensions with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tens of Kurdish politicians, mayors and parliamentarians from the Turkey’s Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and BDP were detained over links to PKK, including the Kurdish party co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag.
More than 10,500 state employees have been dismissed over suspected links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK militant group, Turkish Labour Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Thursday.
In September, 24 Kurdish mayors in the southeast suspected of links to the PKK were suspended and replaced with officials close to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) co-founded by Erdogan, a move that triggered protests in several cities in the region.
The government suspended 11,500 Kurdish teachers suspected of links to the PKK in September 2016.
In September 2016 the Turkish authorities have stopped broadcasts of 10 mostly Kurdish language television channels including the children’s channel Zarok TV.
US, EU, France, Germany and several parties in the European Union legislature have strongly condemned the detention of Kurdish politicians by Turkish authorities over “terrorism-related” investigations.
Since July 2015, Turkey initiated a controversial military campaign against the PKK in the country’s southeastern Kurdish region after Ankara ended a two-year ceasefire agreement. Since the beginning of the campaign, Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews, preventing civilians from fleeing regions where the military operations are being conducted.
Observers say the crackdown has taken a heavy toll on the Kurdish civilian population and accuse Turkey of using collective punishment against the minority.
The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population.
A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974, and has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.
http://ekurd.net/austrian-weapons-turkey-2016-11-25
