Bring Anna Home – Lead the Fight in Strasbourg
My daughter’s story
For those who might not have followed my previous campaign, in March 2018 my daughter was killed in Afrin, in northwestern Syria, by a Turkish airstrike.
Anna was fighting with the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which were supported in their fight against ISIS by the UK. However, more concerned about the Kurds on its borders than the threat from ISIS, Turkey launched a missile strike on the YPG, which resulted in the death of my daughter.
Anna was a beautiful, loving girl, a feminist, an activist, a woman of courage who dedicated her life to fighting for a better world for the rest of us.
Anna’s remains still rest on the battlefield of Afrin, which is now Turkish-controlled territory. We know the exact location. The UK government has taken no meaningful action and my demands to the Turkish government have gone unheeded.
The previous campaign
As some of you know, I have instructed eminent human rights lawyers, McCue Jury & Partnersto represent myself and make official representations to the Turkish government for their violations of international law by not properly dealing with the deaths resulting from the war on their territories.
However, given the legal complexities and costs involved in bringing this case, my lawyers have now had to work pro bono for over a year.
We commissioned a lawyer in Turkey who, in May 2021, wrote on my behalf to the competent Turkish authorities to request again that Anna’s remains and property be returned to her family. We received no response.
In July 2021, we filed a petition with the Administrative Court of Turkey to assert our and Anna’s rights through the Turkish courts.
Turkey did not consider our request substantially. First our case was transferred to another court, then (earlier this month) we were told we had no right to any remedy.
The Turkish judicial process has been painfully slow from the start. It is becoming very clear that we will not get justice in Turkey.
what we can do
As I have not received any reparation from the Turkish government and seem to have no hope of obtaining any, I am prepared to take my case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Turkey violated its international human rights obligations by failing to return Anna’s remains or failing to properly report the events leading to her death.
Turkey has a long history of disregarding international law in this way, and it must stop.
The European Court of Human Rights can hold Turkey responsible for its failures. She will consider my request and, if successful, will declare that the Turkish government has violated my fundamental rights and that Anna’s remains must be returned to her family.
Perhaps, finally, the Turkish government will be compelled to adhere to basic humanitarian law and begin to treat those who suffer from its actions with basic human dignity.
How you can help
I need to raise funds to cover the current and future costs of my application to Strasbourg. Every penny donated will go towards funding the progress of my case.
I am represented by lawyers McCue Jury & Partners LLP and attorney Dr. Austen Morgan who is an expert in this area of law.
Many of you have already been so generous in supporting me to get this far. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
I believe filing a human rights complaint in the Strasbourg Court is my last and only hope of returning my daughter’s remains to the UK and also holding Turkey accountable for its unacceptable behavior.
I simply could not continue this fight for justice without you. Thank you.
window.fbAsyncInit = function () { FB.init({ appId: '1147266642025854', xfbml: true, version: 'v2.9' }); };
(function (d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) { return; } js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));
$(function() { $('#facebook-post').click(function(evt) { var url; evt.preventDefault(); url = $(evt.currentTarget).data('url'); FB.ui({ method: 'share_open_graph', action_type: 'og.likes', action_properties: JSON.stringify({ object: url }) }); }); });