Turkey protested at arms fair in London

Kurds and their friends protested the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2015, the world leading land, sea and air defence and security exhibition, which kicked off at Excel London yesterday.

Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2015, the world leading land, sea and air defence and security exhibition, kicked off at ExceL London yesterday. The fair will last till 18 September.

Kurds and their friends living in the British capital protested the arms trade of world leading countries and Turkey.

In the demo led by Ciwanan Azad and Kurdish People's Assembly, demonstrators lied on the ground in bloodstained cerements and protested the worldwide arms trade for causing deaths.

The demonstrators who were also supported by Corporate Watch and Campaign Against the Arms Trade called on the United Kingdom to stop sale of arms to Turkey and held arms trade responsible for the flow of refugees into Europe.

Hindered from continuing the demo in front of the Excel Centre, demonstrators chanted the slogan “Be ashamed of yourself” against the participants of the fair while also distributing leaflets protesting the massacre of civilians in Kurdistan.

'EXHIBITION AGAINST HUMANITY'

A message read out at the demo said that; "Representatives of the Turkish state are among the participants of the fair where contracts will be made by the states that perpetrate massacres in four parts of the world and kill people for the sake of their own interests. Exhibition of arms, bombs and armored vehicles is nothing but an effort to destroy humanity. We should raise the spirit of solidarity against the contracts to be signed between the Turkish and other states that have blood in their hands." Demonstrators also called attention to the massacre of Kurds by the Turkish state in Northern Kurdistan, the Kurdish region in Turkey.

'A CAMPAIGN MUST BE LAUNCHED AGAINST SALE OF ARMS TO TURKEY'

In a statement on the matter, Corporate Watch pointed to Turkish state's objective to be a leading power in arms trade, adding that Turkish companies now produced new unmanned aerial vehicles and arms, designing a war tank for the Turkish army, and also working on its home-made TFX warplane which is expected to be made ready by the 100th anniversary of founding of Turkish Republic.

The statement also put emphasis on the importance of launching a campaign against the sale of arms to Turkey as its policy of violence against Kurds continued.

Ranging from arms and tanks to unmanned aerial vehicles, all kinds of war and defense equipment are exhibited and put on sale at the fair which is mainly participated by states with high records of human rights violations, including Turkey, Algeria, Angola, Iraq, Qatar and Pakistan.

350 thousand people are employed in the arms trade in the UK which brings in an income of 7 billion pounds yearly.

The fair is also protested by Amnesty International for the sale of illegal equipment including those used for torture.

Among the companies participating the fair are Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) and TUSAŞ (TEI); Boeing; BMC; Lockheed Martin; Otokar; Roketsan; Aselsan; MKEK; Land Rover; Non-Lethal Technologies; Condor Non-Lethal Technologies; Israel Aerospace Industries; Northrop Grumman; BAE Systems; HAVELSAN.

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