Roj Bash Kurdistan

Kurds to take to the streets

On 18 November a demonstration against the ban on the PKK's activities in Germany will take place in Berlin

The "Lift the PKK ban - strengthen democracy!" campaign is mobilising nationwide for the demonstration under the slogan "Lift the PKK ban".

As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced that he will be visiting Berlin at the end of next week, the call for the demonstration has been updated to include a protest against the Turkish nationalist and Islamist influence of the Erdoğan regime. Buses will be travelling to the demonstration in Berlin from all over Germany.

The Confederation of Kurdistan Communities in Germany (KON-MED) released a statement calling for strong participation in the demonstration.

"The German state must not submit to blackmail by Erdoğan. The demonstration against the PKK ban in Berlin will therefore also be a signal that Erdoğan is not welcome.

Let us gather in Berlin on 18 November to respond to Erdoğan against the policies of war he has been pursuing for years. On this basis, we invite the patriotic Kurdish people, as well as all democratic, socialist circles and all those who defend peace against war to Berlin in order for this unlawfulness to come to an end.

All our federations, councils and constituents should mobilise all their means,” said KON-MED.

[size=1`0]KON-MED announced the departure times of buses to Berlin as follows:[/size]

Frankfurt: 23.45, Hauptbahnhof Süd

Hanau: 00.00, Komel

Darmstadt: 00.00, Bahnhof

Bensheim: 00.00, Bahnhof

Gießen: 01.00, Bushaltestelle 18

Limburg: 02.00, Bahnhof

Saarbrücken: 23.00, Beckinge, 23.15, Saarlouis, 00.00, Cinestar

Mannheim: 00.00, Komel

Duisburg: 23.00, Hauptbahnhof

Düsseldorf: 23.00, Busbahnhof

Mönchengladbach: 23.00, Hindenburgstraße 224

Wuppertal: 00.30, Elberfelder Straße 38

Dortmund: 00.30, Bornstraße 166

Hagen: 00.00, Hauptbahnhof

Euskirchen: 23.00, Bahnhof

Bonn: 00.00, Komel

Essen: 00.00, Am Freistein 50 Komel

Bielefeld: 06.30, Hauptbahnhof

Herford: 07.00, Hauptbahnhof

Münster: 01.00, Busbahnhof

Osnabrück: 02.00, Hauptbahnhof

Meschede: 23.45, Lagerstraße 1a Komela Kurden

Aachen: 22.00, Blücherplatz

Düren: 23.00, Bahnhof

Köln: 00.00, Bahnhof Mülheim

Hannover: 07.00, ZOB

Aurich: 00.00, Busbahnhof

Oldenburg: 01.00, Herrenweg 173

Hamburg: 07.00, Hauptbahnhof

Bremen: 01.00, Cinemax

Bremerhaven: 00.00, Bahnhof

Delmenhorst: 00.00, Bahnhof

Kassel: 06.00, Jägerstraße

Kiel: 06.30, Postbank Gaarchen

Lübeck: 07.00, Hauptbahnhof

Erfurt: 07.00, Hauptbahnhof

Dresden: 08.00, Neustadt Bahnhof

Heilbronn: 00.00, Landturmstraße

Tübingen: 23.30, Bahnhof

Reutlingen: 00.00

Nürtingen: 00.30

Esslingen: 23.00, Bahnhof

Bad Cannstatt: 23.30, Bahnhof

Ludwigsburg: 00.00, Bahnhof

Freiburg: 21.00, Hauptbahnhof

Nürnberg: 01.00, Medya Mala

München: 00.30, Schwanthalerstraße 80

Berlin rally against PKK ban

26 November will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the ban on the PKK's activities in Germany. A demonstration against the ban will take place in Berlin on 18 November

A major rally against the 30-year ban on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Germany is planned for 18 November in Berlin. The demonstration will take place as part of a month of action with many different event formats, which the campaign against the ban has been promoting for some time.

The Mesopotamian Free Society Federation (FED-MED) released a statement calling for strong participation in the rally.

The statement released by FED-MED on Monday said: “On 26 November 1993, Germany imposed a ban on PKK activity in the country in an attempt to terrorise the PKK, which is the self-defense force, defender and protector of the Kurds and all oppressed peoples. This ban paved the way for the EU to list the PKK as a terrorist organisation in 2004. The German state’s approach towards the PKK reflects its approach towards the Kurds. We know only too well what the PKK means.”

The statement continued: “The global hegemonic powers’ negative attitude against the PKK is aimed at preventing the Kurds’ and all oppressed societies’ struggle for freedom and democracy, and even annihilating them. While Capitalist Modernity’s state of crisis makes life miserable for humanity and while the struggle for Democratic Modernity, humanity’s hope for emancipation, is concretized in the PKK, the global powers’ hostile approach against the PKK summarizes everything.

The PKK movement has fought a struggle for the freedom and liberation of the Kurdish people since 1978, always in accordance with the international conventions and the law of war. This reality has made the PKK the pioneer of all oppressed societies, and the revolutionary struggle has achieved an international identity. This reality alarms the powers of Capitalist Modernity.

The PKK, which is an ideological movement, guides the revolutionary struggle, receiving increasing support from all oppressed circles. The German state’s treatment of the PKK must be recognized on this basis. We must express our reaction very strongly against the German state’s unlawful ban in its 30th year. We must be in Berlin on 18 November to defend and embrace the PKK.”

FED-MED concluded: “On this basis, we call on all our people and friends to stand up for the PKK, which advocates and fights for the Kurdish people’s and oppressed societies’ rights to life, freedom and democracy, and pays a price for this cause, and to take a strong and decisive stance for the removal of the German state’s 30-year-old ban against the activities of the PKK.”

Demonstration against PKK ban

The demonstration against the PKK ban in Berlin was accompanied by police violence from start to finish. The organisers assume that images of violence were meant to be produced in order to delegitimise their demands

The demonstration against the ban on the PKK's activities in Berlin was accompanied by massive police violence. According to the organisers, up to 6,000 people from all over Germany took part in the "Lift the PKK ban - strengthen democracy" demonstration.

The rally, which was called by numerous organisations, was directed against the ban on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) operating in Germany, which has been in place for almost 30 years. The participants demanded, among other things, an end to the repression and criminalisation of Kurdish organisations in Germany. At the same time, they protested against Turkish President Erdogan's visit to Berlin yesterday and the German government's silence on the war in Kurdistan.

The organisers issued a statement on the course of the demonstration and condemned the police violence: "The demonstration was accompanied by numerous repressive and violent police operations. Already at the opening rally at Oranienplatz from 11am, a few people were detained for allegedly displaying banned symbols or shouting slogans.

The police ignored offers of co-operation from the demonstration leaders and repeatedly intervened provocatively in the demonstration. In addition, Kurdish-looking people in particular who wanted to take part in the demonstration were subjected to bag and ID checks. This procedure was clearly racial profiling by the police.

While the police repeatedly entered the crowd at the Humboldtforum during the demonstration march towards Schlossplatz in order to pull individuals out, the situation escalated at times at the location of the final rally. This led to scenes in which the police entered the crowd and beat demonstrators indiscriminately.

The organisers made visible efforts to de-escalate the situation and formed human chains between the demonstrators and the police. Nevertheless, further detentions were made during the final rally and at the end of the demonstration.

We condemn the violence that was unleashed by the Berlin police today. We made great efforts to demonstrate peacefully against the ban on PKK activities in Germany and Erdogan's visit. But the police obviously wanted to produce images of violence in order to delegitimise our demands.

We would like to thank all the participants in the demonstration who did not allow themselves to be provoked and peacefully stood up for our demands."

Protest in London: Lift the PKK ban

On Saturday, at the same time as the "Lift the PKK ban, strengthen democracy" demonstration in Berlin, protests against the criminalisation of the Kurdish movement also took place in front of German representations in other European countries.

In front of the German embassy near Hyde Park in London, activists protested against the ban on the PKK's activities in Germany and the EU's categorisation of the PKK as a terrorist organisation.

The demonstrators waved PKK flags and called for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to be removed from the EU's terror list to enable a political solution to the Kurdish question.

The London police temporarily detained around ten people because of the PKK flags. The activists were released after being identified.

Some of the Kurds who took part in the protest on Saturday said that they had displayed the flag as an act of civil disobedience to express their demand for decriminalisation.

The flag is very popular among Kurds because this symbol was used to fight for Kurdish independence in Turkey and Kurdistan, especially in the 1990s.

Originally, the flag was the symbol of the National Liberation Front (ERNK), which was founded in 1985 and disbanded in 2000. In 2005 it was declared the flag of the PKK

Mustafa Amed, who comes from northern Kurdistan and was temporarily detained on Saturday, said: "The PKK cannot be considered terrorist. It is fighting for the Kurdish people and their freedom.

No PKK member is fighting for personal interests. The will of a people cannot be banned. We stand behind the PKK and will continue to demand that it be removed from the banned list."

Kawah Mahabad, who comes from East Kurdistan, described the PKK as a people's movement: "No people is terrorist. The PKK fights against denial, occupation and fascism; it is the people.

Thousands of Kurdish people have died in the struggle for freedom

The German state declares an entire people as terrorists and bans its organisation. The PKK ban in Germany must be lifted and the PKK must be removed from the EU list of terrorist organisations."

Kameran Shwani from southern Kurdistan, who was also detained on Saturday, expressed similar sentiments: "The PKK is a humanist movement that is fighting for freedom in the four parts of Kurdistan and has millions of sympathisers.

We are here today to say that. The German state and the EU must lift the ban on the PKK for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. This ban serves Turkish and Iranian policy.

These states are being encouraged to commit massacres against the Kurdish people and to wage a war aimed at genocide. If Germany and Europe want peace in the Middle East, they must lift the ban on the PKK."

Criminalisation of Kurdish community

A raid on the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey around a week ago is likely to have repercussions for the London police. A law firm in the English capital will file a lawsuit with the competent administrative court on behalf of the Kurdish Community Center. With the action, the organisation wants to establish the illegality of the operation

Violent clashes between police and guests

The reason for the raid on 26 November was a planned cultural event to mark the anniversary of the founding of the PKK 45 years ago. As the evening celebrations were due to begin, over a hundred officers from the Metropolitan Police (Met) counter-terrorism unit cordoned off the community centre.

Many members of the Kurdish community protested against the actions of the police force and violent confrontations broke out, in which three guests were slightly injured. When the incident became known, many more people arrived and showed their solidarity with the Kurdish community centre. It was only after lengthy confrontations that the police left and the event could begin.

There was no judicial search warrant

According to the Kurdish Community Centre, the raid on the private property was not covered by an authorisation basis. There was neither a judicial search warrant, nor any so-called imminent danger.

Nevertheless, the police stormed the cultural celebration, which was attended by families with children, and violently and aggressively disrupted it without a legitimate reason. It is therefore clear that the raid was apparently "clearly politically motivated" and the final link in a chain of attempts to criminalise Kurds.

Raid just after the defence minister's visit to Ankara

It is particularly noteworthy that the police operation against the Kurdish Community Centre took place just two days after a visit by UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps to his Turkish counterpart Yaşar Güler in Ankara. According to media reports, an improvement in cooperation in the areas of defence and security in the Middle East was agreed at the meeting, and arms deals were probably also discussed.

"As the Kurdish Community Centre, it is not without reason that we accuse British politicians of abusing anti-terrorism legislation and the judiciary in order to advance their own political goals," it said.

Demonstration against the criminalisation of the Kurdish community

The raid on the Kurdish Community Centre and the criminalisation of the Kurdish community in England was also the central theme of a demonstration in London on Sunday evening. Several hundred people took part in the demonstration organised by the Alliance of Democratic Forces - which includes Kurdish, Alevi, socialist and internationalist groups and movements.

Activist Türkan Budak from the board of the Kurdish community centre stated that the British anti-terror laws represented a direct threat to the right of assembly and association as well as the right to freedom of expression.

"We will no longer accept that this country criminalises Kurdish self-organisation and Kurdish life, keeps silent or even supports the war against Kurds, and misuses the laws to silence our resistance against the Turkish regime.

We will not allow ourselves to be sacrificed in favour of the UK's relations with Turkey and to satisfy Erdoğan. We are also aware that this criminalisation policy is also linked to the sympathy of the British people for the Kurdish cause and the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan."

Solidarity with the just and legitimate cause of the Kurdish people

Other speakers also criticised the raid on the community centre in Haringey and the British government's treatment of the Kurdish community, expressing solidarity "for the just and legitimate cause of the Kurdish people".

"Anyone looking for terrorists in the Kurdish Community Centre is clearly on the wrong track. It is not the Kurds, who are fighting against reactionary fascist and barbaric structures in the Middle East and paying a high price for human dignity and the whole world, who are terrorists.

The real terrorists are in Ankara," said Ercan Akbal from the Alliance of Democratic Forces. The demonstrators expressed their support for the Kurdish movement with slogans such as "No to the criminalisation of the Kurdish people", "Turkey is a terrorist state", "No justice, no peace" and "Freedom for Öcalan, peace in Kurdistan".