A group of German parliamentarians and civil society activists have filed a lawsuit against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government officials, accusing them of committing war crimes against the Kurdish population.
Lawyers for the group, Britta Eder and Petra Dervishaj said,
“Our clients consider it a moral duty to bring charges for systematic war crimes in Turkey here in the Federal Republic [Germany] as is possible according to the Code on International Criminal Law”.
Turkey’s former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and other senior military officials are mentioned in the lawsuit, alongside senior politicians.
Parliamentarian Ulla Jelpke from the Left Party said the action was part of moves to raise awareness about the Kurdish situation so that "in the future there will be much stronger and clearer protests against the actions of a NATO member against the Kurds and opposition".
The lawsuit focuses on events in the town of Cizre, where Turkish security forces are reported to have killed 178 civilians in what has become known as the "basement massacre".
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