PRESSURE is mounting on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to act over alleged chemical weapons attacks by Turkey as its annual conference opens in the Netherlands tomorrow.

The OPCW has been accused of complicity by its continuing silence, with Kurdish forces alleging that more than 300 attacks have been carried out with banned munitions during the six months of Turkey’s illegal war in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In discussion with the Morning Star, a senior Kurdish official said it was “telling” that world powers were ignoring Ankara’s actions, accusing them of colluding with the genocide of the Kurds.

A new dossier prepared by the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an umbrella organisation that includes the Kurdstan Workers Party (PKK), will be presented to the OPCW during its five-day 26th Conference of the States Parties World Forum (CSP-26) in The Hague.

It is not clear exactly which chemicals have been used, but PKK commander Murat Karayilan said he believed that at least five substances were involved.

He told Sterk TV that the nerve gas tabun was one of the suspected chemicals, along with chloropicrin, also known as green cross.

“The main origin of this weapon is in Germany,” Mr Karayilan said, suggesting that the country is producing the substance with Turkey.

Pepper spray and mustard gas are also being used, the PKK cadre alleged, along with a gas that causes temporary paralysis.

“On-site scrutiny and investigations” are essential to determine the exact chemicals being used, he said, reiterating calls for a delegation from the OPCW and the United Nations to visit the region.

These call were echoed by the Coalition Against Chemical Weapons in Kurdistan, which said that the war crime allegations require an independent probe.

Signatories, including Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj and John Hendy QC, called on the world to learn the lessons of the 1988 Halabja attack, in which more than 5,000 Iraqi Kurds were gassed.

“We must not allow this to happen again,” a statement said.

Discussions at CPS-26 will focus heavily on Syria and Russia, with a number of statements condemning the alleged actions of the two nations.

But Turkey will not feature and official representations from Kurdish bodies, including letters to director-general Fernando Arias, have been ignored.

Similarly, the Morning Star’s repeated requests for comment on the alleged chemical attacks, including a missile strike on the UN-administered Makhmour refugee camp, have elicited no response. 

The Star was invited to seek media accreditation for the gathering, but its application was refused after being assessed by a panel.

No reason was given, but the newspaper has carried numerous articles critical of the OPCW, including the cover-up and manipulation of a report into the alleged chemical attack in Douma in 2018.

Numerous Western governments have dismissed allegations that Turkey has used chemical weapons.

In a response to Lord Hylton, the British government cited a lack of evidence. It described reports detailing the attacks as “not consistent with the typical characteristics of a chemical weapon.”

In Germany, the biggest supplier of arms to Turkey, the government said that the use of white phosphorus, one of the chemicals that may have been used in the attacks, was legitimate.

European Union foreign affairs chief Joseph Borrell said last month that “no reports of  confirmed chemical attacks have … been presented” in response to a written question that Swedish MP Malin Bjork submitted in June.