A group of European deputies held a press conference in front of the Council of Europe calling for the release of Kurdish politician Kenan Ayaz, who was arrested in Cyprus on 15 March and extradited to Germany.
Kurdish politician Kenan Ayaz was detained at Larnaca airport as he was leaving to visit his family in Sweden on 15 March. The Cyprus police detained him acting upon a German state's arrest warrant and extradition request.
A group of European deputies from the Council of Europe gathered in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, to protest the extradition. In a statement, the deputies demanded the immediate release of Kenan Ayaz.
The statement underlined that Kenan Ayaz is fighting for human rights and liberties, and added that his detention was unacceptable. The MEPs also said that such arrests carried out by some European states against Kurds are actually serving the policy of the Turkish state.
The parliamentarians, who called for Cyprus to release Ayaz as soon as possible, stated that they would follow the issue until Ayaz was released.
France (La France Insoumise) Deputy Emmanuel Fernandes, Cyprus AKEL Deputy Georges Loucaides, Cyprus Socialist Party Deputy Constantinos Efstathiou, Iceland Althingi Party Deputy Jodis Skuladottir, Germany Die Linke Deputy Andrej Hunko, HDP Foreign Relations Commission Co-Spokesperson Feleknas U HDP European Commission Representative Fayik Yağızay and DKTM Strasbourg members attended.
