The Confederation of Kurdistan Communities in Germany (KON-MED) is an umbrella organization consisting of five federations with sixty local councils and municipalities. On 23 June, KON-MED will evaluate its own work at an interim meeting. Preparation for this began last weekend with grassroots discussions.

The boards of KON-MED and its member organizations have been elected every year. Instead of the annual congresses, interim meetings will be held for the first time this year. The co-chair of KON-MED, Ruken Akça, gives several reasons for this innovation: “There are more and more Kurds living in Germany. Our councils' primary purpose is to organize political, social and cultural work on site. One year is not enough to meet existing needs. Within a year, the elected boards can only organize themselves and gain experience. It was therefore decided that the congresses should take place every two years. An interim assessment will be made in the interim meetings.”

Co-chair Kerem Gök added: “Our politics is heavily influenced by the war in Kurdistan. Lately our people have been constantly in action. That won't change. The interim meetings are intended to evaluate one's own work in order to compensate for weaknesses and strengthen the board. People from the four parts of Kurdistan should be represented in all councils. Councils must constantly renew themselves to meet the needs of society.”

A constant goal is to attract new members, says Ruken Akça. The priority is to work with women, young people and children: “We will expand the Jineolojî work and offer projects for young people and children. Our goal is to let them grow up with their own culture.”

According to Gök, the fight against the criminalization of Kurds in Germany should also be one of the focus of work: “As an organization, dialogue is our principle. We want to be heard and speak ourselves instead of others talking about us. As is well known, there is a ban policy and we are often portrayed as violent and criminal. This is a big problem for us. All of our work takes place within the legal framework. We live in Germany and all the problems that exist here also concern us.”