European Democratic Kurdish Society Congress (KCDK-E) Co-chair Yuksel Koc had sent a letter to Germany’s President Franz-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in the name of the hunger strikers in Strasbourg. When the letter did not receive a response in the 3 weeks since, Die Linke took the matter to the Federal Parliament.

Die Linke MP Gokay Akbulut submitted a written inquiry for the Federal Government to respond to and asked questions about Yuksel Koc’s letters. Akbulut asked, “What response did the Federal Prime Ministry and the Foreign Ministry gave to letters sent by Yuksel Koc on February 13? How were the letters assessed?” and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Andreas Michaelis responded.

THE UNDERSECRETARY’S “RESPONSE”

In the written response by Michaelis, the following views are expressed for why the letters haven’t been responded to: “The European Democratic Kurdish Society Congress (KCDK-E) is an umbrella organization in Europe close to the PKK, and is considered to be the political arm of the PKK which is banned in Germany. As such, we will not be responding to the letter sent on February 13 signed by the KCDK-E Co-chair.”

But, unlike the Federal Government official Michaelis’ claims, the KCDK-E is an officially registered organization in Europe and NAV-DEM is an organization in compliance with the associations act in Germany. Furthermore, the Dusseldorf Administrative Court issued a ruling on February 6, 2019 that there are “distinct differences between the NAV-DEM e.V. and the banned PKK” in a case regarding the ban against a NAV-DEM march about Afrin.

The letter Strasbourg hunger strikers sent via Yuksel Koc to the President, Chancellor and Foreign Minister called for courageous policies like German Chancellor Willy Brandt of the 1970s and to take action to end the isolation.