Some 1,200 protestors have gathered in Geneva calling for United Nations action to stop Turkish bombing of Afrine, a Kurdish enclave in Syria. They called notably for an air exclusion zone.
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The marchers began their protest on Monday in Lausanne, reaching Geneva on Thursday after a four-day staged walk. They included people of 17 nationalities, according to Swiss public television RTS, although the group was mainly made up of Kurds living in Switzerland.
Their starting point was the Palais de Rumine, where the Treaty of Lausanne was signed in 1923. The treaty established the borders for modern Turkey, ending the Kurdish people’s aspiration of having their own state.
Turkey launched a military operation on January 20 against Afrine, targeting Kurdish militia who have helped in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. These attacks have killed at least 150 civilians, according to the Kurds.
This represents a failure of the West, which has abandoned its allies against the Jihadists, one human rights expert working for international organisations told the demonstration.
Protestors slammed Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling him a “fascist”, a “dictator” and an “assassin”. But their main target was the United Nations, which they accuse of guilty silence. They called for the UN to guarantee an air exclusion zone, international troops at the border and application of the Geneva Conventions.
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Over 1,000 Kurds march in protest from Lausanne to Geneva
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Around 1,200 Kurds began a protest march in Lausanne on Monday against the Turkish bombing of Afrine, a Kurdish enclave in Syria.
Demo organisers not responsible for violent banner
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Bern city police told the Swiss News Agency that organisers of the demonstration could not have taken action against the banner without escalating the situation. Thousands took to the streets of Bern on March 25 to demonstrate against the ‘anti-democratic’ actions of Erdogan in Turkey. During the demonstration, a banner was unfurled showing a gun pointed…
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“About 1,500 over the past two-and-a-half days,” says the policeman on duty when asked how many people have passed the checkpoint in Bern’s embassy district. He is referring to Turkish citizens permitted to enter the closely guarded embassy area and have their say on a set of 18 proposed amendments to the Turkish constitution which…
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