THE HAGUE: Dutch police arrested 50 people on Friday after Kurdish demonstrators alleging that Turkey is using chemical weapons in northern Iraq broke into the headquarters of the global toxic arms watchdog.
Protesters got past security to enter the grounds of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague and staged a noisy rally outside the building’s front doors, AFP journalists saw.
Police dragged the demonstrators off one by one, put them on the ground and handcuffed them, before bundling them into waiting vans.
At least a dozen police vehicles sealed off the road outside the OPCW, which is opposite Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s official residence.
Several ambulances and a medical helicopter were also at the scene.
“At around noon, a large group of protesters stormed a building … We have arrested these protesters. Several police units are present at the building,” police said on Twitter.
“The approximately 50 arrested demonstrators who were on the site have been transferred to a police location.”
Turkey denies using chemical weapons in its conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.