STATEMENT
The Armenian National Committee of Australia (ANC-AU) condemns the brutal attack and murder of Kurdish human rights activist and politician, Ms Hevrin Khalaf by Turkish forces currently invading Syria.
The 35-year-old Future Syria Party’s Secretary-General, who championed tolerance in Syria and worked to unite Christians, Arabs and Kurds, is confirmed to have been executed by pro-Turkish militants in northeast Syria along with eight others in a race-based rampage that Ankara media labelled a "successful operation".
The "operation" has been displayed on social media, and involves hails of gunfire being unloaded on the targets of the Turkish forces, who yell insults to the camera, including:
"Another fleeing pig has been liquidated..."
Their methods of racial targeting, their labelling of a group – in this case Kurds – as "pigs", the proud parading of their barbarity, and then the celebrating of their brutal murders ... all reminiscent of what was experienced by our ancestors during the Armenian Genocide.
Turkey and its leader Reccep Tayyip Erdogan are acting with the impunity afforded to their predecessors by the rest of the world. It is time we stop the cycle of war crimes by Turkish governments – by recognising those of yesterday and acting on those today.
We have lived this experience. We have no excuses. Rest In Peace, Ms Hevrin Khalaf.
Armenian National Committee of AustraliaSydney, Australia
