On war crimes and crimes against humanity – a weekly news review

With so much talk about war crimes and crimes against humanity, this week’s review looks at what is meant by these terms. It illustrates them with examples from Turkey’s actions in Syria and Iraq, and discusses the limits of the international mechanisms set up to address them. It goes on to look at the constitutional crisis besetting Turkey, as the Court of Cassation challenges the Constitutional Court, and at the attempts by the new leader of the Republican People’s Party to woo Kurdish voters. It ends with the biggest crime against humanity – though not one recognised by the International Court - the systematic crushing of every attempt at progressive opposition to the status quo.