Letter to the United Nations on the Turkish military operation (olive branch)

To His Excellency, Prince Zeid Bin Ra’ad Al Hussain, The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Subject: Save The Syrian Town, Afrin. In the name of mercy, peace, tolerance and all things humane for all people, living and dead. Also, in the name of all that is free, right and true for all mankind. We are writing to you as our position of lawyers from Syria and our responsibilities to the oath that we have undertaken to support humanity. Everyday, the conflict become worse and more widespread. There is no justification for them to continue and, indeed to happen again in the future. Today as holders of the message of right, justice and law, we cannot hide that the desperation and disappointment start to sneak into our souls. This undermines our resolve to do the task that we promised to ourselves, even though, it is a very hard mission. The United Nations, as the world’s highest organization, with all its branches and institutions whose primary purposes is to preserve peace and human dignity, faces real and unprecedented tests which threaten its credibility, goals and existence. This is particularly evident in some of the dubious deficits in the performance of its responsibilities to what is happening in many parts of the world. It’s very painful and regrettable that today, we see countries exposed to the most human disasters ever known. This should be unlikely to happen as it is assumed that we have reached an age and time to take lessons and experience from the past and the people who went before us. It is for this reason that the United Nations was established. Its duty is to maintain security, peace and the rule of law by the efforts of the people and the good of the world. Now, we must confess that this global institution has failed, first and foremost, to establish precise, explicit standards as well as the interpretation of its articles, principles, decisions, charters, right and freedoms that it represents. Some of the principle and decisions have become a way and outlet for some states to parse their own illegal or private goals. So, many concepts and terminology remain without any clear or explicit meaning. These include terrorism, the right of self-defence, legitimate resistance, legitimate intervention and the right of sovereignty. Therefore, the movements of freedom and legitimate resistance may turn, according to the whims of the powerful countries and their policies to terrorism and vice versa. What is happening in Syria, our homeland, and what has been suffering for the last seven years, together with what is happening today in Afrin is only the most comprehensive example of what we have stated. It reveals all the negative loopholes and paradoxes for the world, United Nations and the countries under its dome. There is no doubt that the struggle of good and evil is the basis of the promotion of human nature that will not end. Accordingly, our task is to establish controls and limits of that conflict and prevent the vicious people overcoming them as individuals, groups, organizations or countries. We will discuss the axioms and issues that are agreed upon, until appropriate solutions are found for the mentioned negatives regarding the absence of clear concepts such as, terrorism. The world is almost unanimous in the terrorism and criminality of some groups and organizations such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS). The thoughts and actions of these organizations threaten the security and stability of humanity in the world. Therefore, it is the main concern for decision-makers, politicians and the law-seekers. The United nations has repeatedly stressed that those organizations bear the responsibility for human right violations and war crimes. At the same time, the Amnesty International has also accused ISIS of ethnic cleansing at the historic level in Northern Iraq. Now, it is obvious that the details and the goals of the mentioned organizations don’t need and discussion. Thus, going into such discussion is strange because it is very clear and unambiguous. But….? So, our goal is to connect and access what needs to be explained, detailed and interesting to many points of questioning and controversy. The suspicious and distrustful attitude of some global organizations, such as the U.N. and its irresponsible attitude towards the figures and governments supporting terrorism constantly. The government of turkey and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party, justice and development party, are an example of this. We all know that terrorist acts have been include in the international laws since 1930s. The United League discussed the criminalization agreement in 1936 and adopted 13 legal articles, in this regard, between 1963 and 2004. The most important of these are the agreement to combat the financing of terrorism. The Security Council has issued several resolutions in this regard, Resolution 1373 in 2001 and Resolution 1566 in 2004, in which they condemned all acts of terrorism. Whatever their motives, wherever and by whomever committed, as one of the most serious threats of peace and security. It calls upon the full cooperation of all states to combat terrorism and its financing. Based on this, we see with certainty that the clarity of Turkish state terrorism is no less than the clarity of the terrorism of ISIS. Where systematic and declared terrorism, systematic war crimes and crimes of ethnic cleansing against the Kurds on and outside its territory and blatant violations of human right. It is doing all this now in the Syrian town of Afrin and before that, it practiced it in turkey and abroad. But to be professional and objective, we must prove it with evidence, so that we don’t make judgments arbitrarily and with no evidence, we will come in succession arguments and evidence to support what we have said. We will enclose with this letter a series of documented and revealing photographs of these facts. 1. Many sources from within ISIS and of level of leaders, have declared the support from Turkey. Most notably, one of them reported to the Washington Post in August 2015 that most of the leader who come to the organization did so through Turkey. As did the weapons and equipment that were needed. 2. A statement was made by Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the head of the Republican Peoples party, which is the second largest party in Turkey. It was made from Adana Attorney General’s office and confirmed the evidence that Turkey provided the terrorist groups with weapons, and that he had a copy of an interview and photos with a truck driver who was bringing the weapons to these groups. The Turkish government then responded that it was an aid truck for the Turkmens who denied it later. 3. Bulent Tezcan, the vice chairman of the Republican People’s Party, reported that three trucks were stopped by police officers in Adana on 19.12.2014. the trucks were loaded with weapons and ammunition at the Esenboga airport in Ankara, then headed to the Syrian -Turkish border and were waiting for MIT intelligence agents to enter Syria and deliver their cargo to the terrorist organization. 4. Turkey provided logistical assistance to the organization fighters and former interior minister, Muammar Guler signed the military orders. The order stated that since Hatay province included a strategic location within our border and in line with our regional achievements, we would help Al-Nusra front against the PYD in Syria. Our support for jihadist organization will increase and we will train and care for them, as well as secure their safe passage from Hatay. The council of Religious Affairs will provide accommodation in coordination with the Turkish intelligence, Guler said. 5. British Sky News received document revealing the involvement of turkey where passports were stamped for foreign fighters crossing into Syria to join the jihadists. 6. Another report was published in the New York Times in September 2014, on Turkey’s help in regulating oil purchases. There is no doubt that this constitutes only a small part of the information and evidence of Turkey’s involvement support and funding for terrorist organization. This continues to be supported by it aggression to the town of Afrin with its army, equipment and war machine and its destruction by the terrorist state organization. It has been identified that some of them were killed by the defenders of Afrin, and also by arresting others and identifying them as belonging to the organization by definitive evidence. Is there still to be doubts in Turkey's support for terrorism and terrorists if not to brand Turkey as the core of terror. Yes, Turkey, its president and its current government are the terror itself and it threatens security and peace not only in Syria and its regional neighbours, but in the world as a whole. Turkey is now a real concern for many countries. Otherwise, what is the meaning of its intervention and its illegal aggression on the borders and the soil of a sovereign neighbouring country that is Syria, before the eyes of the world. All under baseless arguments and pretexts such as the existence of a (terrorist) group or groups that pose a threat to its national security. The group that Turkey is labelling as terrorist is the very same group that provided the greatest service to humanity in our time in eradicating, weakening and defeating terrorism. This group (The Syrian Democratic Forces) was and still is a fundamental and strategic ally of the United States and the international coalition forces in the war against terrorism. How can it be that the terror fighter who is recognised by the world and appreciated and praised, to be described at the same time as a terrorist and terror supporter. The most surprising of all is the deadly silence of all countries and international and regional organisations about what is happening in Afrin of bombing, killing, destruction and genocide using all types of weapons including internationally. prohibited. It even came to the point that their silence entailed granting the right to a state of terrorism to fight and kill those who actually fought terrorism. Turkey today distract The Syrian Democratic Forces from fighting terrorism. Because a big part of them had to move to defend Afrin and stand against the Turkish aggression, which opens the door widely for the return the terrorist Islamic State to the scene and the rise of terrorism again. The fact that nations and peoples are rewarding the saviour and the devoted with death and encouraging the terrorist and the supporter of terrorism move forward, is indescribable. Turkey is only targeting the Kurdish People for their race and identity and not a specific group. Turkey seeks to clear the Kurdish ethnicity just as it exercised and did so against the Armenians. Turkish crimes in Afrin raise to the level of "crimes against humanity" • Turkish leaders and their supporters justify Turkish aggression against Afrin as "self-defence” in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Many countries, including Russia and the United States, have accepted this justification, citing Turkey's legitimate security concerns. But do those justifications really fit the firm framework of the legal military operation? A survey of the relevant international legal principles indicates that all Turkish justifications for the war and the ways in which it was carried out violate international law to the point of international outrage. Self-defence or unjustified aggression? The Charter of the United Nations on Self-defence, article 51, states: "Nothing in this Charter shall prejudice the inherent right to individual or collective self-defense if there is an armed attack against a Member of the United Nations until such time as the Security Council takes the necessary measures to safeguard International peace and security ". Turkish officials claim that their operation in Afrin was taken in accordance with this provision. However, no "armed attack" was launched against Turkey from Afrin, or any other territory in Rojava. On the other hand, the statements made by Turkish President Erdogan were clear in the days leading up to the military operation that he would launch an offensive war and not a defensive one as he claims, since he did not receive any threat. At a party conference in Elazig in mid-January, he said: "If the terrorists do not give up in Afrin, we will crush them." In another speech, he commented on US statements about the establishment of a "border force" in northern Syria, promising "to destroy this terrorist army in its infancy." Most theorists agree that the threat that requires proactive action must be imminent and that the impending response is proportionate. This criterion is not achieved in Afrin. Turkey has not faced any imminent threat from Syria's democratic forces - which have asserted in several statements that they are committed to self-defence within Syria. Since there is no real threat, Turkey's response - the bombing of civilian cities throughout the region and the use of jihadist agents to invade lands controlled by Syrian democratic forces - is in no way compatible with international law. Despite the Turkish claims on the contrary, it is clear that traditional or proactive self-defence did not justify the launch of the operation. Turkey has not notified the UN Security Council - another condition in article 51 - of any breaches on its borders over the past years and has not reported to the Security Council on the military operation. Targeting civilians: The conduct of the Turkish military operation does not meet international standards relating to war. Under the Rome Statute, "intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against civilian personnel not taking direct part in hostilities" is a war crime. Where Turkish aircraft continue to bomb civilian areas in Afrin, the Kurdish Red Crescent reported that as of 30 January, 65 civilians had been killed and 163 wounded. "It is more than once that the Turkish armed forces are targeting and killing civilians in Afrin, On 31 January, injuries were recorded in the cities of Afrin, Jandras, Raju, Mabata, Shirawa and other civilian cities. The videos showing the destruction of the villages shows that. One scene showed the total destruction of the Khalta village civilian houses. It is a war crime under the Rome Statute. Cultural property The death of civilians and the destruction of cities are not important to the international community, but what happened in Afrin went beyond that, where historic sites were deliberately targeted. Where there are four archaeological sites received their share of the Turkish aerial bombardment on Afrin, "the hill of Endara and the archaeological sites in Nabi Hory listed on the list of" UNESCO ", and the villages of Kobla and Albeska, where many of the churches are located. The principles of customary international law stipulate that "special attention shall be paid to military operations to avoid damage to historical monuments unless they are military objectives [and] property of great importance to the cultural heritage of each and every person must be targeted for attack only if the military necessity so requires" . On Friday, Turkish bombs destroyed an estimated 60 percent of the Hittite temple in Endara, a 3,500-year-old cultural site and many other historical monuments. The Syrian government condemned the attack, and the sources in Afrin compared the destruction of sites such as Palmyra. In view of the long history of the temple, the Turkish shelling was unjustified and illegal. Prohibited Weapons Many reports indicate that Turkey uses internationally banned weapons against the residents of Afrin. The leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces and local sources confirmed that Turkey is using napalm against civilians. Doctors at the Avrin hospital in Afrin say they saw "unnatural burns" on the bodies of civilians killed in Raju. Other local sources claim to use gas and cluster munitions. These allegations must be investigated and, if confirmed, appropriate action must be taken. How should the world respond? All players in Syria, especially the United States and Russia, must take immediate steps to stop the war and end their collusion in the war crimes committed by Turkey against civilians in Afrin, including the crime of body-abusing of a Kurdish combat body. The bombing of civilians was not possible without the Russian green light and the opening of Syrian airspace to Turkish aircraft. They are also purchased by Turkey from the United States. US policymakers must act immediately to ban arm-sales in the future - and all other governments using their military equipment in Turkish operations should do the same, especially Germany. Countries already working as partners of Syrian Democratic Forces on the ground in Syria - especially the United States and Russia - should offer their help in Afrin instead of trying to reverse it and cooperate with Erdogan. In the long term, States and relevant international organisations must begin the process of legal prosecution for the crimes of Turkey in Afrin. While Turkey is not a party to the Rome Statute, there is still a process of referring its proceedings to the International Criminal Court. Article 14 of the Rome Statute provides that any State Party to the Treaty may "refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which it appears that it has committed one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court requiring the Prosecutor to investigate in the case of the purpose of determining whether to charge one or more persons with the commission of such offences. " It is clear that Turkey committed crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in Afrin. Photos, videos and testimonies from residents of the region who witness the crimes freely available. The opposition also admitted in a statement issued by the Coalition themselves of committing murder, body maiming, burning houses, looting and assaulting Kurdish and Yazidi civilians in Afrin. Any of the 123 States that have ratified the Rome Statute can - and should - begin to collect evidence for referral. The peoples of those countries must press their governments to do so. Turkey's actions in Afrin are clear examples of crimes against humanity, in accordance with international human rights law and international organisations. If the world believes in the values of its institutions, it will classify these crimes as they are, act to stop them, and ensure accountability. • After a presentation that we consider a summary of part of the reality of what is happening and part of the reality of the Turkish state and the fact that Afrin is a city of peace and will remain a symbol of love and security and safety and goodwill of humanity. In conclusion and before all these facts. We can only appeal to you through your Excellency, the world organisation to carry out its tasks and responsibilities towards the events that are taking place, and to improve our remaining confidence in its ability to perform its mission and its role as necessary and natural for which it was found. The most important of which are: Firstly: Urging States to intervene immediately and urgently, especially at the level of the Security Council, to act and take all measures that will put an end to the Turkish aggression and the terrorist factions associated with it; Civilians living in Afrin and its rural areas, it is a densely populated area especially after the displacement from various cities and regions of Syria, who witnessed the tension and events over the past years that Afrin was the most peaceful and peaceful areas thanks to the efforts and awareness of its population to take responsibility for the situation. Secondly: Call for immediate, credible, independent and transparent investigations that will document all crimes and violations committed in the field of human rights and reveal their source and perpetrators to refer them to the competent authorities, whatever they are, and they were characterised to take the necessary legal measures against them. We have to be certain that the continuation of this situation, leaving Turkey, under its current leadership, and other countries, individuals and groups, to cause corruption on the ground is a serious error and a great sin, and the victims of terrorism will curse us. Much appreciated and all respect to you, Signed