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Turkish Opposition MP Calls for Probe into Kurdish Women Being Kidnapped, Sent to Libya

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. (AP)
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Turkish Opposition MP Calls for Probe into Kurdish Women Being Kidnapped, Sent to Libya

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. (AP)
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. (AP)

Turkish opposition lawmaker Tulay Hatımoğulları Oruç of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) presented a parliamentary inquiry to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, raising questions on the kidnapping of hundreds of Kurdish women and girls by Turkish-backed factions in Afrin, northern Syria.

According Oruç some of the kidnapped women were taken to western Libya for sexual enslavement by the leaders of Syrian militias.

This coincided with Çavuşoğlu and his counterpart at the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), Mohamed Taher Siala, discussing bilateral relations, the latest situation after the ceasefire in Libya and the UN initiative to find a solution to the Libyan crisis.

Oruç launched parliamentary movements to investigate the shocking testimonies published by Kurdish women who escaped from Afrin during the Turkish offensive in 2018, and were raped and sold as slaves—some of whom were transferred to Libya.

“Are you investigating the claims that girls and women from Afrin were sent to Libya as slaves? Is your ministry aware of the sexual assaults in Afrin’s camps and prisons? Will it take the necessary measures to address these rights violations? Will it carry out coordinated activities with international organizations in this regard?” Oruç asked Çavuşoğlu during her intervention in parliament.

Testimonies of survivors from the Afrin region revealed the presence of hospitals in areas controlled by Ankara-backed factions which were full of the corpses of kidnapped women and girls.

These testimonies have been documented by the Missing Afrin Women Project, which tracks the disappearance of Kurdish women and girls in Afrin since 2018.

More than 1,000 women and girls are believed to be missing in Afrin alone after Turkey’s two-month Operation Olive Branch, which expelled the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) from the region two years ago.

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N. Korean Soldier Captured in Russia-Ukraine War Dies, Says Seoul

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)
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N. Korean Soldier Captured in Russia-Ukraine War Dies, Says Seoul

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)
In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (Center-R) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) walk past children during a welcoming ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024. (Sputnik/AFP)

A North Korean soldier who was captured while fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine has died of his wounds, South Korea's spy agency said on Friday.

Pyongyang has deployed thousands of troops to reinforce Russia's military, including in the Kursk border region where Ukraine mounted a shock border incursion in August.

One of those North Korean soldiers was captured alive by the Ukrainian army on Thursday, a South Korean intelligence source told AFP, adding that the location where he was seized was not known.

Hours later, Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said that the soldier had succumbed to his wounds.

"It has been confirmed through an allied intelligence agency that the North Korean soldier captured alive on December 26th has just passed away due to worsening wounds," the South's spy agency said in a statement.

Friday's confirmation came days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that nearly 3,000 North Korean soldiers had been "killed or wounded" so far as they joined Russian troops in combat.

South Korea's intelligence service had previously put the number of killed or wounded North Koreans at 1,000, saying the high casualty rate could be down to an unfamiliar battlefield environment and their lack of capability to counter drone attacks.

Pyongyang's soldiers were also being "utilized as expendable frontline assault units", lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun said, speaking last week after a briefing by South Korea's spy agency.

- 'Dangerous expansion' -

North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

A landmark defense pact between Pyongyang and Moscow signed in June came into force this month, with Russian President Vladimir Putin hailing it as a "breakthrough document".

North Korean state media said Friday that Putin sent a New Year's message to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying "the bilateral ties between our two countries have been elevated after our talks in June in Pyongyang".

Ukraine's allies have called Pyongyang's growing involvement in Russia's war in Ukraine a "dangerous expansion" of the conflict.

Seoul's military believes that North Korea was seeking to modernize its conventional warfare capabilities through combat experience gained in the Russia-Ukraine war.

NATO chief Mark Rutte had also said that Moscow was providing support to Pyongyang's missile and nuclear programs in exchange for the troops.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday that Pyongyang is reportedly "preparing for the rotation or additional deployment of soldiers" and supplying "240mm rocket launchers and 170mm self-propelled artillery" to the Russian army.

Pyongyang's involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine had prompted warnings from Seoul.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol, currently suspended, said in November that Seoul was "not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons" to Ukraine, which would mark a major shift to a long-standing policy barring the sale of weapons to countries in active conflict.