The participation of world-famous Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg in the 31st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) held in Turkey, and the views she expressed, have sparked serious debate.
Globalinfo.az reports that Thunberg has attended a COP summit for the first time since 2021.
However, Thunberg’s arrival in Turkey and her speech at the summit were not received unequivocally.
At the summit Thunberg first spoke about the climate problem, but later raised political topics. She accused Turkey of trade ties with Israel. She also called on Turkey, in support of Palestine, to stop transporting oil to Israel from its territory. She then made a call for “Freedom for Kurdistan”.
Her accusation and her latest call became a talking point.
G. Thunberg had previously visited Turkey in 2024. She toured only the country’s eastern region, that is, the areas where Kurds are more densely settled. Later, posting from Van, she wrote “Kurdistan” in the social network’s country field. She called Turkey’s eastern region Kurdistan. In her post she also wrote that Kurds living in Turkey allegedly face pressure and violence from the Turkish government and are waging a struggle. She also said the territory should be granted autonomy. Greta also described jailed PKK terrorists as “political opposition” and said they were groundlessly accused of terrorism.
Just a year later, her participation in COP31 in Antalya and her call for “Freedom for Kurdistan” drew attention.
Speaking at the United Nations environment forum in Antalya, climate activist Greta Thunberg:
“Turkey must immediately stop fuel supplies to Israel; these supplies are fueling the genocide in Gaza.”
“Justice for Kurdistan!” https://t.co/Ar5KlVjmPS
— Ihsan Mercan (@ihsanmrcn) November 12, 2026
Ayshan Mustafa
Globalinfo.az
