Germany’s PEN and Book Trade Association demand archives to be returned to Mezopotamia and MIR

The German PEN and the German Book Trade Association are demanding the devolution of the cultural archive confiscated during the ban proceedings against the Kurdish publishing houses Mezopotamia and MIR. “Cultural property must not be destroyed or made inaccessible,” said a statement by the associations.

On 26 January, the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig upheld the ban imposed by the Ministry of the Interior three years ago on the Mezopotamia publishing house and the music distributor MIR. According to the prosecutor, both companies based in Neuss are closely intertwined with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in organizational, financial and personnel terms and should therefore be regarded as its “sub-organizations”. Both distributors will appeal against the verdict before the Federal Constitutional Court.

Tons of books and audio media confiscated

In the course of the trial procedure, several truckloads of books, cds and musical instruments were confiscated in February 2019, totalling around 50,000 pieces. The Kurdish music archive, which is considered unique in the world, was also affected. It is still unclear what will happen to the cultural property after the trial has been completed.

“Rare and valuable cultural property of the Kurdish community”

“The German PEN and the German Book Trade Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) have already questioned the legality of this confiscation in 2019 and called for a quick and transparent procedure. The measure was not justified by the ban on individual books or pieces of music. Rather, it took place as “part of the confiscation of the association’s assets,” the writers’ association and the German book industry association state in their statement. “PEN and the German Book Trade Association are demanding the release of the rare and valuable cultural property of the Kurdish community. This should remain freely accessible to Kurds and cultural studies research in a suitable institution.”

Act of Solidarity: “Edition Mezopotamya”

In protest against the ban in 2019, the German Unrast publishing house, the Austrian publishing house Mandelbaum and the publisher Eight in Switzerland re-released part of the German-language program from the Mezopotamia publishing house – in the “Edition Mezopotamya”. Thanks to the solidarity action, some important titles were able to be published again, including works by the imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan.