“There are no grounds for maintaining the PKK ban,” explains Managing Director Lukas Theune. “Based on this decision, thousands of politically active people are being persecuted. This should not be the case in a democracy,” Theune continues.
The PKK neither endangers public safety in Germany nor does it commit crimes here. The ban on its activities has created a negative image of Kurds in German society, with serious consequences for their daily lives. Many refugees have had their asylum status revoked. Young people who grew up here are not being granted citizenship because they advocate for the rights of Kurds in Turkey and draw attention to the human rights violations that occur daily in Turkey.
Since the PKK ban was imposed, Kurds in Germany have been affected by restrictions on their fundamental rights and criminalization, by discrimination, exclusion and mistrust, for example when they oppose operations by the Turkish military that violate international law and which, on behalf of the Turkish government, does not shy away from using poison gas and bombing mostly Kurdish civilians.
The German government must decide: for a values-based foreign policy towards the Turkish government, for universally valid human rights and for the protection of minorities. Or for an opportunistic policy of power games at the expense of one of the largest minorities in Germany, namely the Kurdish population, which is being systematically criminalized through the ban on their activities.
We at RAV stand firmly on the side of those affected by repression, surveillance, and intimidation. We demand: Lift the ban on their activities!
