SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Dutch police detained 50 Kurds on Friday after Kurdish protesters accusing Turkey of using chemical weapons in the Kurdistan Region broke into the headquarters of the global toxic arms watchdog, according to media reports.
Dozens of flag-waving protesters from a Kurdish organization protested what they alleged the use of chemical weapons by Turkish forces in Kurdistan, news agencies reported.
The protesters got past security to enter the grounds of the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Hague and staged a noisy rally outside the building’s front doors, AFP reported.
Police detained about 50 protesters who managed to get past security, including a high fence that surrounds the OPCW headquarters, AP cited police spokesperson Dick Goijert as saying.
AFP said police dragged the protesters off one by one, put them on the ground and handcuffed them.
Britain’s delegation at the OPCW said it was “deeply concerned to see protesters break into [the] OPCW,” according to AFP.
Evidence on the chemical weapons used “should be submitted to OPCW through appropriate channels,” it added.
A Kurdish group called DEM NED organized the protest against the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Turkish forces, AP cited police Goijert as saying.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has accused the Turkish military of using “chemical weapons and poison gases” in its operation against the group in Kurdistan.
Turkey denies it uses chemical weapons in its fight against the group.
In November, the Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament called for international investigations into allegations that Turkey had used chemical weapons in Kurdistan.
Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region. It says neither the Iraqi government nor the Kurdish government has taken measures to combat the group.
