Signatures collected in several cities for international campaign to “delist the PKK”

In Hanover, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Lucerne and Zurich, Kurdish activists collected signatures on Saturday for the international campaign to remove the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) from the list of terrorist organisations. The campaign, launched at the end of 2021 by the Justice for Kurds Initiative, draws attention to the fact that the classification of the PKK as terrorist hinders a solution to the Kurdish question and is used as a political weapon and justification for attacks on Kurds everywhere, from discriminatory practices to military confrontations.

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Hanover

In Hanover, signatures were collected at a stand set up by the Ronahî Women’s Council. Despite the bad weather, interested people were informed about the campaign and music was played at the stand all day.

Dortmund

In Dortmund, activists of the Kurdish youth movement set up a stand with books by Abdullah Öcalan and information material in front of the main station and collected signatures.

Düsseldorf

Signatures were collected on Schadowplatz in Düsseldorf.

 

Cologne

Activists from the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre, the Kurdish youth movement TCŞ and the Viyan Women’s Council collected signatures on the square in front of the train station in Cologne.

Lucerne

In Lucerne, members of the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre informed about the campaign for the delisting of the PKK. “The states are silent when our children die. They call them terrorists because they fight for their people. The PKK stands for the Kurdish people and a people cannot be terrorists. Until we can live in freedom and peace, I will continue to say that I am from the PKK,” Fatma Töre (65) said about her motivation to get involved in the campaign.

 

Saliha Öcalan (57), another long-time activist, said: “The PKK is not terrorist. For us, the terror list has no legitimacy. We are the PKK. We stand for peace. A people fighting for peace cannot be classified as terrorists. We will continue to be on the streets until the states recognise this reality.”

Ali Töre, 67, added: “For us, standing up for the PKK means standing up for peace, democracy and freedom. This is what the PKK stands for and the states should also be aware of this. The PKK is not a terrorist organisation.”

Zurich

 

In Zurich, the information stand for the campaign is set up at a different location in the city every week. This week, members of the Bêrîtan Women’s Council were active at the Stauffacher tram stop. Activist Newroz Azad announced that the campaign will continue until the demand to remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organisations is met.

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