Remy Pagani has been an activist for 50 years. Taking part in the struggle against capitalism and nuclear energy, he considers himself in the ‘radical left’.

Pagani, who has been active in trade union activities for 20 years, has been a member of parliament for 15 years and in the Geneva city administration for 13 years. He was elected the mayor of Geneva in 2009 and 2012.

Pagani started to maintain good relations with the Kurds 10 years ago. “I have come here today. There has been a silence towards Erdogan's aggressive foreign policy. This is an expansionist occupation. It is not an armed conflict. It cannot be justified under international law. Erdogan is trying to do the same thing on the Mediterranean coast as well. I have come here to get information and to urge the Kurds to ‘negotiate around a table’. Negotiation may be more difficult than war, but once the war begins, it lasts too long,” Pagani said.

ERDOGAN SHOULD WITHDRAW

“First of all, I would like to say this: I am against the law of the strong, I stand with the law. The law requires Erdogan to respect the boundaries decided by the international community. He needs to withdraw Turkish troops in order to be recognized by the international community”, the Swiss politician said.

CALL UPON THE UN

“It is really surprising that NATO and European countries tolerate this situation,” Pagani added. He also called on the United Nations to offer solutions and set up a table for dialogue.

SWITZERLAND MODEL

Citing the example of Switzerland, Pagani continued, “We use four languages ​​in Switzerland. We have 27 cantons, and we live together in peace. It is possible to resolve the conflict and to secure stability in Kurdistan and Iraq. It takes a lot of effort for everyone to live in peace. I think that justice, democracy, peace and freedom should go hand in hand.”

The former mayor of Geneva emphasized the right to self-determination, saying the following:

“I have travelled to many parts of the world to promote the right of peoples to self-determination. The Catalan people have the right to self-determination. Switzerland has the Jura community. When I was younger, I went to events for the autonomy of the Jura canton. Then there was an election, and today there is a canton that has been legitimized by elections (It was separated from the canton of Bern in 1978 and was established as the Jura Republic and Canton). This is the best thing we did in Switzerland at the end of the last century.”