German intelligence service forgets Neonazis and focuses on Kurds

German intelligence services continue to criminalize Kurdish institutions. In the 2018 report, Kurds were targeted instead of Neonazis, who have a real threat.

Germany’s domestic intelligence institution Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) announced their 2018 report in a press conference in Berlin. BfV President Thomas Haldenwang and Interior MInister Horst Seehefer attended the meeting and spoke about the institutions and organizations that are under surveillence in Germany.

FAR RIGHT KILLS PEOPLE BUT INTELLIGENCE PURSUES KURDS

The report stated that far right groups in the country are reaching a dangerous level for national security. The number of “far right” Neonazis was announced as 24.100, the highest it has been in several years, and the report said 12.700 of these neonazis were ready to engage in violence at any time. Concerns about far right terrorism had increased after Kassel Regional Governor Walter Lubcke was murdered by a Neonazi on June 2.

The report also claimed that there are 9.000 far left members with violent tendencies and cited the number of “incidents involving political violence” as decreasing to 20.431, while the “incidents of far right violence” rose 2.3% to 1.156. The intelligence services have turned a blind eye to the organizing efforts of the far right groups, who have killed a governor and have threatened to kill many politicians, and targeted leftist groups and revolutionaries from Turkey and Kurdistan who don’t engage in violence once again, with no evidence.

“SOLIDARITY WITH KURDISTAN” TARGETED

The intelligence report pointed to the protests in Berlin and Cologne during the Turkish state invasion of Afrin and Erdogan’s visit to Germany. The report said: “The far left used the Turkish army’s military attacks against the north of Syria and developments in Turkey to join together with extremist Turkish and Kurdish groups,” criminalizing the German left’s awareness of developments in Kurdistan and Turkey.

The report also had a subtitle “Solidarity with Kurdistan” in the “extreme left groups’ activities” section, listing German leftist groups’ events and demonstrations in solidarity with the Kurdish struggle for freedom and developments in Kurdistan as “radical left activity”.The “Interventionistische Linke - Interventionist Left”, “Rote Hilfe e.V”, Communist Party Germany (DKP) and Marxist-Leninist Party Germany (MLPD) were targeted for their protests against Erdogan’s visit to Germany organizaed under “You are not welcome Erdogan”.

ELECTION EFFORTS ATTRIBUTED TO PKK

PKK, even though it has been banned in Germany since 1993 and has had no official activity, was also listed in the 2018 report. The 388-page report gave Kurds and the PKK a total of 17 pages, as opposed to the 30 pages in 2017 in the “Non-islamist foreign extreme organizations that threaten security” section. The report said the PKK maintained its strength in 2018 and that there are 14.500 “members or sympathisers” of the PKK in Germany. The same number was included in the report last year as well, while 2 years ago it was cited as 14.000.

The activity attributed to the PKK in 2018 in Germany was argued on three parts: Turkish army attacks against Afrin, parliamentary and presidential elections held on June 24, 2018, the health and prison conditions for Ocalan, who has been in prison since 1999. The report cited “PKK’s main objective” as: “Autonomy in Turkey and Syria where Kurds’ cultural and political rights are recognized”.

The report claimed that demonstrations organized in solidarity with the HDP and celebrations of HDP’s success were mostly organized by “PKK sympathizers”.

Demonstrations protesting the Turkish state and their gangs attacking to invade Afrin were also attributed to the PKK. There had been protests against the invasion of Afrin on the call of several German, Turkish and Kurdish peoples by early 2018.

“THE YOUTH ORGANIZE ONLINE TO JOIN THE PKK”

The report included information on events and festivals organized by Kurdistan people in Germany and pointed out that the main subject in demonstrations allegedly organized by the PKK was the situation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Turkish army attacks. The events organized by the Kurdish Democratic Society Center Germany (NAV-DEM) with permits from relevant authorities were criminalized in the report.

Another detail in the report was that the youth organized online to join the PKK. The intelligence report said the youth follow PKK’s efforts online and organize through the internet. The BfV’s annual report said the youth exchange information online with the keywords, “Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom” and obtain information on how to travel to join the PKK. Many activists have joined the YPG/YPJ in recent years from Germany to fight against ISIS gangs, and it had been bothering the state.

KURDISH MEDIA TARGETED

Kurdish media was targeted once again in this year’s report. German intelligence units were seen using the same language as the Turkish state against Kurdish journalism. The intelligence services claimed that the PKK uses media tools in a multifaceted way aiming to create “Kurdish politics” in Germany. The Yeni Ozgur Politika newspaper was called “PKK’s daily newspaper” and ANF “news agency close to the PKK”, targeting our Turkish, Kurdish, English, Spanish, Arabic and Persian language services. Aiming to deliver news about developments in Kurdistan in various languages, our agency was cited as “aiming to reflect developments in the Middle East to European countries through the lens of the PKK through multilingual publications”.

“PKK IS THE STRONGEST AMONG FOREIGN ORGANIZATIONS”

The report also pointed to the Gerîla TV which broadcasts actions from HPG guerrillas, and said social media is an important area for the PKK. The report said propaganda for guerrilla units is disseminated through social media like YouTube and Twitter, and called the PKK “The most organized among foreign organizations with the biggest number of members”.

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