33 members of the German parliament and German state parliaments of DIE LINKE (The Left), DIE GRÜNEN (Greens), FDP and SPD call for solidarity with the imprisoned politicians in Turkey. In the appeal initiated by Gökay Akbulut of DIE LINKE and Cansu Özdemir of DIE LINKE Hamburg, the Federal Government is called upon to exert more influence on Turkey as a leading member of the Council of the European Union: "Before discussing the resumption of holiday travel from Germany to Turkey, the observance of fundamental rights in Turkey should first be addressed.”

The appeal, signed among others by DIE LINKE chairpersons Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger as well as Green politicians Cem Özdemir and Claudia Roth, reads as follows:

"We are members of various political groups in German state parliaments and in the German Parliament. We are united in our concern for the opposition in Turkey.

Once again, three members of parliament were deprived of their mandates. Leyla Güven and Musa Farisoğulları from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) had been sentenced to prison for alleged terrorist offences and Enis Berberoğlu from the Republican People's Party (CHP) for alleged betrayal of secrets. A few hours after the withdrawal of the mandates, all three were arrested. Less than 24 hours later Berberoğlu was "amnestied" because of the Corona pandemic. Leyla Güven was also released in the meantime. Musa Farisoğulları is still in custody. Since the cases are still pending before the Constitutional Court, the seriousness of the violation of the law is not limited to the arrest. Their withdrawal from office is also illegal.

Some 5000 members and sympathisers of the HDP are imprisoned in Turkey for political reasons. Since last year's local elections, 45 elected HDP mayors have been deposed and in some cases arrested. Already in the last legislative period, 26 HDP MPs were arrested out of political arbitrariness.

We are extremely concerned about developments and the situation of political prisoners in Turkey. We declare our solidarity with the imprisoned politicians.

In Turkey the freedom of the press is very strongly restricted, it virtually no longer exists. This is another reason why the imprisoned politicians need strong international solidarity and more reporting on their situation.

We expect the implementation of existing law in all cases which the Council of Europe has called for and which are particularly serious. These include the ECtHR rulings in the case of Selahattin Demirtaş and the deposed mayors, who had just before been admitted to the elections by the government.

International partners, such as the German government, should use economic relations with Turkey to emphasise the need to respect democracy, the rule of law and human rights. As a leading member of the Council of the European Union, the Federal Government should exert greater influence on Turkey. Before discussing the resumption of holiday travel from Germany to Turkey, the first issue to be addressed is the observance of fundamental rights in Turkey. Finally, travelers from Germany were also imprisoned in Turkey, out of political arbitrariness."

Signatories:

Kazım Abacı (SPD)

Gökay Akbulut (DIE LINKE)

Luise Amtsberg (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Miriam Block (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Sabine Boeddinghaus (DIE LINKE)

Deniz Çelik (DIE LINKE)

Filiz Demirel (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Carola Ensslen (DIE LINKE)

Alske Freter (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Olga Fritzsche (DIE LINKE)

Michael Gwosdz (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Norbert Hackbusch (DIE LINKE.)

Sina Imhof (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Stephan Jersch (DIE LINKE)

Andrea Johlige (DIE LINKE)

Katja Kipping (DIE LINKE)

Lisa Kern (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Farid Müller (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Juliane Nagel (DIE LINKE)

Cansu Özdemir (DIE LINKE)

Cem Özdemir (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Tobias Pflüger (DIE LINKE)

Filiz Polat (BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Bernd Riexinger (DIE LINKE)

Stephanie Rose (DIE LINKE)

Claudia Roth (MdB, BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Bijan Djir-Sarai (FDP)

Ali Şimşek (SPD)

Helin-Evrim Sommer (MdB, DIE LINKE)

Margit Stumpp (MdB, BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)

Hakan Taş (MdA, DIE LINKE)

Cindi Tuncel (MdBB, DIE LINKE)

Yusuf Uzundağ (MdHB, BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN)