A three-day tourism fair has begun in the German city of Hamburg on Friday. The Hamburg committee of the Women Defend Rojava campaign called for a boycott of Turkey tourism together with the local groups of the initiatives Tatort Kurdistan and #RiseUpForRojava.  

At a stand in front of the exhibition centre, potential Turkey tourists are made aware that the income from tourism is being used to finance the bloody war against the Kurdish people, which the Turkish state has been waging for 40 years.

Last year, Turkey earned around 30 billion dollars with tourism and drastically increased its military expenditure in the same year.  About 1.2 million German citizens will now book their holidays, and for many of them a holiday to Turkey after two years of abstinence is apparently again in the realm of possibility.

Ethnologist, author and activist of the Kurdish women's movement Anja Flach from Hamburg is one of the participants in the campaign and says: "It can’t be allowed that people die because others want to go on holiday."

However, the Turkish government is not only taking action against the Kurdish people, minorities and opposition members in its own country. It has also invaded northern and eastern Syria in violation of international law, occupying parts of it and supporting jihadist groups there.

"The largest airline in Turkey, Turkish Airlines, is half owned by the Turkish state. The bosses of Turkish Airlines are closely linked to Erdoğan and are constantly promoting Turkey's war. We therefore call on the visitors of TRAVEL HAMBURG to boycott Turkish Airlines and Turkey as a holiday destination. In dictatorships people don't go on holiday", demands Flach.

Turkish dam policy dries up the region

Activist Julius Luxembourg pointed out the Turkish dam and water policy in Kurdistan and recalled the destruction of the twelve-thousand-year-old ancient city of Hasankeyf. Turkey's water policy not only leads to great environmental destruction but is systematically used as a weapon of war as well. Due to the large storage capacities of the dams, the Turkish state can arbitrarily block water at any time, not only in its own country but also in large parts of Northern Syria and Southern Kurdistan. Serêkaniyê (Ras al-Ain) was already de-facto dried up before the Turkish invasion and occupation last October.

Street performance

A street performance is planned for today as part of the action in front of the exhibition grounds. The stand can be visited daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Sunday.