A delegation from the solidarity group #FreeKenan has been in Nicosia for around a week and a half to get a first-hand impression of the situation of Kurdish activist and politician Kenan Ayaz. Today, Saturday, the representatives visited the detention center in the Cypriot capital for the second time.
Ayaz was arrested in Larnaca in March 2023 at the instigation of the German authorities and extradited to Germany in June of the same year. In September 2024, he was sentenced to four years and three months in prison by the Hamburg Higher Regional Court for alleged membership in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He was not charged with any specific crimes. Human rights organizations and his defense team criticized the trial as politically motivated.
Relief after transfer from Germany
Ayaz has been in Nicosia Central Prison since September 8. In conversation with the delegation, he emphasized once again how much of a relief the transfer from the German remand prison had been: at Holstenglacis Prison in Hamburg, he had been held in a windowless basement cell for 23 hours a day.
“Just standing in line with the other prisoners to get food is a nice feeling,” said Ayaz. He has now also been told his official release date: June 19, 2026.
No parole – for political convictions
Although he is now in a so-called open prison, where daily leave would in principle be possible upon request, Ayaz expressly rejects this. The reasons are political in nature.
“Cyprus is a country marked by colonialism and occupation – just like Kurdistan. I am a person who fights for freedom, just like the Cypriots,” says Ayaz. Germany and Turkey continue to be involved in genocide, he says, adding that Cyprus has also experienced mass murders and occupation. He finds it incomprehensible that this country, of all places, continues to imprison him.
Ayaz told his lawyers: “If I have to go back to prison here, I might as well stay in a German prison. It is unworthy that a country that itself suffers under Turkish occupation is now taking on Turkey’s tasks.”
Ayaz emphasized that he did not want to be part of this political game. He said the prison guards treated him with respect and kindness—which made it all the more painful for him that they were forced to guard him. “I would rather sit in a cell in Germany for 23 hours than put these people in Cyprus in this shameful situation.”
Ayaz drew a comparison with Kurdish politicians in Turkey who are led away in handcuffs: “In the past, they shot us. Today they say: Be glad you’re only wearing handcuffs. You could say the same thing to the Cypriots: Be glad that Erdoğan only occupies half the island.” Under these circumstances, he said he did not want day release, as that would be merely cosmetic. He stated that this kind of “partial freedom” was unacceptable to him.
According to Ayaz, continued detention is purely politically motivated
In his view, the continuation of his detention is not a legal decision, but a purely political one. Cyprus, he said, wants to become a member of the Schengen area, and at the same time, the EU’s interest in the gas reserves off the coast has increased. According to Ayaz, these interests are linked to the unresolved Cyprus conflict and the border dispute between Greece and Turkey.
Ayaz also commented on the Kurdish question, emphasizing that peace is only possible through the democratization of Turkey and referring to the importance of Abdullah Öcalan and his initiatives to end the war. He said that the West had repeatedly exploited the Kurdish question to keep Turkey dependent. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in turn, is exploiting this situation to intensify his genocidal course against the Kurds, he said.
“The current negotiations are an important step toward freedom and security for all peoples in the region,” Ayaz concluded. He thanked his supporters in Germany and sent them his warmest regards. The group #FreeKenan announced that it would continue to draw attention to the case and build political pressure.