RT Urges UN to Probe Alleged Mass Killing of Kurds in Turkey

The RT television channel on Thursday called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to investigate reported mass murder of Kurds in south-eastern Turkey, according to a petition launched by the broadcaster.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In February, Kurdish activists claimed Turkish troops had burned some 120 civilians to death in basements in the town of Cizre in Turkey’s southeastern Sirnak province.

"We want to attract widespread public attention and call for an independent international investigation led by UNHRC into the alleged mass killing of Kurds in south-eastern Turkey," the petition launched on Thursday on the Change.org platform reads.

The RT channel sent footage backing the claims to several human rights organizations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Amnesty International, but the institutions either refused to comment or stated they would not be able to launch an investigation.

Relations between Ankara and the Kurds, who comprise some 25 percent of the country's population, have been progressively worsening. Ankara has been carrying out a campaign against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which seeks to create a Kurdish state in parts of Turkey and Iraq, since the summer of 2015 following a deadly suicide attack in Suruc. Ankara considers PKK to be a terrorist organization.