UN urges Turkey to investigate executions in Syria

Turkey could be “deemed responsible” for summary executions by an affiliated armed group of several Kurdish forces and a politician, reportedly shown on videos on social media at the weekend, the United Nations human rights office said on Tuesday.

UN human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a briefing in Geneva that it was obtaining footage of the killings, apparently carried out by Ahrar al-Sharqiya fighters near Manbij.

“Turkey could be deemed as a state responsible for violations by their affiliated groups as long as Turkey exercises effective control of these groups or the operations in the course of which those violations occurred,” Colville said.

“We urge Turkish authorities immediately to launch an impartial, transparent and independent investigation.”

Pro-Ankara fighters taking part in a Turkish offensive on Kurdish-held border towns in northeastern Syria “executed” at least nine civilians on Saturday, a monitor said.

“The nine civilians were executed at different moments south of the town of Tal Abyad,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Kurds said a female Kurdish party official and her driver were among those killed.

Hevrin Khalaf was “taken out of her car during a Turkish-backed attack and executed by Turkish-backed mercenary factions,” the political arm of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement.

“This is a clear evidence that the Turkish state is continuing its criminal policy towards unarmed civilians,” it added.