Over 5,700 people have signed a petition launched by academics and peace activists calling on Angela Merkel to lift the ban on the PKK introduced in 1993. The petition has been handed in to the Chancellor’s office.
Over 5,700 people have signed a petition launched by academics and peace activists calling on Angela Merkel to lift the ban on the PKK introduced in 1993. The petition has been handed in to the Chancellor’s office.
The petition was launched in October last year by academics including Eckart Spoo, Prof. Dr. Mohssen Massarrat, Laura von Wimmersperg, Prof. Dr. Norman Paech, Reiner Braun, Prof. Dr. Andreas Buro, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Gottstein, Prof. Dr. Werner Ruf and Dr. Peter Strutynski.
The petition was submitted today prior to the debate in the Federal Parliament on the Left Party motion calling for the ban to be lifted. One of the organisers of the petition, Prof. Dr. Mohssen Massarrat, said their intention was to support the demand for the lifting of the ban.
The petition, which is also supported by the International League for Human Rights, calls for a change in attitudes given recent developments in the Middle East and the faltering peace process in Turkey. The petition emphasises the struggle of Kurdish fighters against the ISIS gangs and calls for an end to the blockade of Kobanê.
The petition also stresses that recent demonstrations by PKK supporters in Germany have passed off peacefully and recalls the role of PKK guerrillas in preventing a massacre in Sinjar. It also draws attention to the peaceful coexistence of Moslems, Christians, Assyrians, Arabs and Kurds in the model established in Rojava.
