“Lift the ban against the PKK” initiative releases video ahead of 27 November march in Berlin

The initiative “Lift the ban against the PKK” has published a video that tells the history of the repression against the Kurdish movement in Turkey and within the Federal Republic of Germany. The initiative refers to the political contradictions that the ban has been causing internationally since the early 1990s.

As a spokesman for the initiative put it, “the Düsseldorf trials at the end of the 80s began in a specially built high-security hall, which was probably the largest political show trial after the Second World War, which was ushered in with preliminary convictions and baseless indictments against Kurdish activists. This mammoth process, which started because of the FRG’s foreign policy interests, came to a politically inglorious conclusion after a few years, which is why the then Interior Minister Manfred Kanther retroactively imposed a ban on activities on November 26th. “

Video of the “Lift the ban against the PKK” campaign

The subsequent repression against the Kurdish struggle for freedom is shown in the video with historical recordings of the last 28 years. The video recalls that “as before, only a peace process can lead to justice … To an equal coexistence based on grassroots democracy, gender liberation and ecology-based society” and closes with the demand under which the demonstration on November 27th stands: “Lift the ban against the PKK! End war, promote a political solution!”

Background            

The “Lift the ban against the PKK!” Initiative is committed to decriminalizing the PKK in Germany and removing it from the EU terrorist list. Since the ban was imposed, politically active Kurds have been exposed to a systematic policy of repression and criminalization, especially in Germany. The PKK ban not only severely restricts the political participation rights of the Kurdish community in this country, but also represents an obstacle to a political solution to the Kurdish question in general.