With a notice sent to all interior ministries of states on March 2, the German Federal Interior Ministry had banned symbols including the PYD, YPG/YPJ flags and Öcalan posters.

The practice in question was considered an expansion to the PKK ban. The Hamburg police banned the flags with Öcalan’s image on them in a demonstration for Öcalan on October 18 citing the decree by the Federal Court of Justice, arguing that the decree bans Öcalan’s photographs.

QUESTIONS AWAITING ANSWERS

Die Linke MPs took the ban to the Hamburg State Parliament with a written inquiry. The questions MPs Cansu Özdemir and Martin Dolzer demand answers for are:  

- Which decree is the Hamburg police citing for the ban on Öcalan posters?

- Does the ban include all images of Öcalan or just the one with a blue shirt and yellow background?

- Did the State Interior Ministry specifically order the execution of the ban due to the notice on Match 2, or did they issue an order in accordance with the notice?

- How many rallies has the Hamburg Police taken precautions at since March 2 and for which symbols?

Concretely, how many investigations are active for the “symbols ban” since March 2 for demonstrations that

- show Öcalan’s photogarph

- include PKK and symbols associated with them

- include symbols from other organizations?”