A major demonstration against the 30-year ban on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Germany is planned for 18 November in Berlin. The demonstration will take place as part of a month of action with many different event formats, which the campaign against the ban has been promoting for some time.

The call for the demonstration titled: ‘We say: lift the PKK ban – strengthen democracy!’ said: “House searches, surveillance, deportations and long-term prison sentences are just the tip of the iceberg if you are part of the Kurdish community in Germany. In all political, cultural and social activities, Kurds are always placed under general suspicion of the so-called ‘PKK connection’. This circumstance, which can be traced back to the ban on the PKK issued on 26 November 1993, greatly affects Kurdish society as a whole: in addition to criminal instruments, which can result in long-term prison sentences, residence and naturalization law or assembly law are also used and instruments of association law are used to deprive politically active Kurds of their right to self-determination.”

Because of the ban, said the statement, “people who show solidarity with the Kurdish movement are increasingly being targeted by law enforcement authorities. This systematic policy of repression not only results in Kurds' basic rights of freedom of expression and assembly being curtailed, but also in particular makes them feel ignored, excluded and discriminated against. The German state is basically continuing the policy that the Turkish state started. Kurds who had to suffer state repression by the Turkish state and sought refuge in Germany were and are confronted here in Germany with some of the same methods as those used by the Turkish state. The trauma of oppression and exclusion continues.

The PKK ban represents an enormous democratic deficit in the Federal Republic of Germany, which must be overcome as quickly as possible. On the one hand, it is an expression of anti-Kurdish racism and at the same time prevents the social participation of Kurds in Germany.”

Ban on PKK strengthens Erdoğan

The call said that “the ban also strengthens Turkish President Recep T. Erdoğan by allowing him to legitimize and intensify his wars of aggression against Kurds, which violate international law. Lifting the PKK ban in Germany will not only deprive Erdoğan of the breeding ground for his military aggression, it will also offer a serious opportunity to pave the way for the PKK's democratization efforts throughout the Middle East and thus for peace. The Kurdish freedom movement has not only proven through its resistance and fight against (the so-called Islamic State) that it seriously and sustainably strives for progressive development in the entire region. Rather, it also offers a grassroots democratic, ecological and feminist perspective, which it has demonstrated through the implementation of the self-government model of democratic confederalism.”

Thirty years after the ban was issued, it is clearer than ever before that the ban on the PKK represents one of the greatest obstacles to a peaceful resolution of the region's conflicts. The call underlined that “in order to open the way for dialogue and a political solution to the Kurdish question, lifting the ban is essential.”

Put an end to the persecution of Kurdish politics

The organizers of the march called “on all democratic and solidarity forces to take action against the backdrop of the 30th anniversary of the PKK ban and to work for its lifting. As part of the month of action against this ban, we are calling for a nationwide demonstration on 18 November in Berlin. On this day we will take to the streets together with everyone who wants to put an end to 30 years of injustice and the political persecution of Kurdish politics in Germany.”

The demonstration will be in Oranienplatz in Berlin at 11am.