SYRIA’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) is among 13 Kurdish groups who have written to the United Nations alleging that Turkey is committing war crimes in Afrin.

The letter demands UN intervention to stop the assault by Nato’s second largest army and for it to facilitate the return of the 170,000 people forced to flee since Operation Olive Branch started in January.

Afrin’s Health Council alleged that Turkey used chemical weapons in February and the Kurdish organisations warned of a “human tragedy of great dimensions” unfolding in the city.

It said it would present evidence of “slaughtering, theft, harassment … and forced displacement of civilians” to change the demographics of Afrin.

“What is being committed in Afrin amounts to war crimes and is in violation of the Geneva Convention as well as the Hague conventions,” the letter added.

The groups accused Turkey of seeking to “destroy, erase a national identity and community” and wipe out “the very existence of the Kurdish people in the region.”

They called for a UN investigation and for the perpetrators to be held to account.