Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

Public protests continue in Swiss cities against Turkey

Group of demonstrators in Lucerne
The Swiss city of Lucerne on Saturday also saw protests against the Turkish offensive against Kurdish-held regions in northern Syria. Keystone/Alexandra Wey

Several thousand people have again marched in Swiss cities to protest against Turkey’s military offensive against Kurdish regions in Syria.

The demonstrators in the cities of Geneva, Bern and Lucerne called for an immediate end to the violence and oppression by the Turkish regime against the Kurds. They also urged Switzerland to stop weapons exports to Turkey and to impose financial sanctions.

The protests were organised by the Kurdish community supported by left-wing Swiss political parties, trade unions as well as the pacifist Switzerland Without an Army group.

On Friday, demonstrations also took place in the Swiss cities of Zurich and Basel against the Turkish offensive in Syria.

Condemnation

The military conflict in the border region between Syria and Turkey has also raised concern in western Europe that militant Islamic groups could regain strength.

The Swiss government earlier this week called on Turkey to cease its military offensive in neighbouring Syria. It also announced plans to facilitate humanitarian aid.

However, Switzerland stopped short of imposing economic sanctions against Turkey.

For its part, the Swiss parliament on Friday decided to suspend preparations to introduce a regular exchange of tax data with Ankara.

A Senate committee argued Turkey’s military offensive was a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

Estimations about the number of Kurdish immigrants in Switzerland vary widely between 15,000 and 60,000.

More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR