ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A right-wing member of the German parliament told Rudaw in an interview that Berlin has not done enough to prosecute what he said was over 5,000 suspected “war criminals” from Iraq and Syria who have entered the country since 2014.
“Reports say that between 2014 and 2019, we had more than 5,000 war criminals of Syria and of Iraq, mostly people coming from ISIS [Islamic State], that migrated to Germany alone, not to other countries,” Martin Sichert, an MP from the populist Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, told Rudaw’s Dilbixwin Dara on Tuesday.
Claiming that German police had investigated just a handful of tips they received, he said, “Germany is really not doing enough… Whoever is a war criminal is not welcome in Germany. That must be the message.”
German courts have delivered verdicts in several cases of crimes committed by ISIS and the Syrian regime.
German Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in late March said that the threat level from ISIS remains high following an attack in Moscow, claimed by the group, which killed over 140 people. Berlin is set to introduce temporary border controls as it seeks to tighten security measures for the upcoming European Football Championship, which it will be hosting starting from June 14.
Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS. The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Weapons provided by Germany, especially the guided anti-tank MILAN missiles, were essential in Peshmerga forces’ fight against the terror group.
In October, Germany decided to keep their armed forces deployed in Iraq until October 31, 2024.
Germany ‘not interested’ in monitoring Afrin
The right-wing lawmaker also blasted the German government for ignoring “huge human rights violations” committed by Turkey and its affiliated groups in northern Syria, especially Afrin, due to Berlin’s relations with Ankara.
“We have big problems, because the German government is not really interested in monitoring the situation in Afrin because Turkey is an ally of Germany in the NATO and they work together very much. And because they work so close together, the German government says they don’t want to step the Turks on their feet. So they’re trying to put the situation in Afrin under the blanket, not talk about it,” said Sichert.
Turkey and Turkish-backed forces have routinely been accused of committing grave human rights violations, killings, abductions, rape, as well as forcing the displacement of Kurds from northern Syria.
According to Sichert, Germany does not act or mention the violations committed by Ankara in northern Syria because the government does not want to “upset” Turkish voters in the country. He also accused Berlin of keeping the situation hidden so as not to enrage the German public, as ignoring Turkey’s crimes in northern Syria contradicts German foreign policy.
“We have some millions of Turkish people living here in Germany and they [government] want them as voters, and they also want to work with Turkey together in NATO, probably also against Russia, and so they don’t want to step on the feet of Turkey. They don't want to talk about the bad things that are going on, that Turkey or the Turkish army is doing,” he said.
Since 2016, Ankara has carried out successive operations to expel Kurdish fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), from Syria’s north. Its military campaigns are aimed at establishing a “safe zone” - a buffer between the Turkey-Syria border and areas under Kurdish control.
Turkish forces have invaded key Kurdish-majority towns near the border such as Afrin, Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain), and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad). Ankara has repeatedly threatened to carry out another operation imminently.
A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report in February accused Turkey and its proxy militias of being responsible for an array of “serious abuses and potential war crimes” in areas it occupies in northern Syria.
Officials responsible for these abuses, some of whom hold senior positions, have not been prosecuted, according to HRW.
