Kurdistani German immigrant Cemil Gültekin was sued by a Turkish court for participating in the HDP’s election campaign and giving speeches in rallies in his hometown of Erzurum, and then a German court summoned him to appear in court on Turkey’s demand.

A similar incident to Cologne based writer Doğan Akhanlı’s detention in Spain during his vacation on the Erdoğan regime’s demand occurred in Essen, Germany for Kurdistani immigrant Cemil Gültekin.

Gültekin had been living in Essen since 1994 when he arrived as a political asylum seeker, and visited his hometown of Erzurum years later in 2015. His visit coincided with the June 7 elections and the 68 years old man actively participated in the HDP’s election campaign and gave speeches in rallies.

GERMAN COURT TOOK HIS DEPOSITION FOR CASE IN TURKEY

Gültekin was sued in Turkey with allegations of “terrorist propaganda” for the speeches he gave in HDP rallies. Turkish authorities determined that he is a German citizen, and transferred the lawsuit to Germany.

Cemil Gültekin, who is also a board member in the Families of the Martyred and the Disappeared Association (KOMAW), was summoned to court to give his deposition in the Administrative Court in Essen for the lawsuit filed in Turkey. Gültekin spoke to the ANF on being summoned to a German court to give a deposition on a case in Turkey:

“I said to the German court, ‘You putting me on the defendant’s dock gives me sorrow, I have not committed any crimes, I made propaganda for a legal party. Or do you also think what the Turkish state considers crimes are actual crimes?’ Then the court told me I wasn’t on the dock, I was just giving a deposition.”

COURT: WE RECEIVED THE FILE, WE HAD TO TAKE A DEPOSITION

Gültekin said the court told him that he was not obligated to make a deposition: “They summoned me to court, and they told me that I wasn’t obligated to make a deposition. The court was visibly uneasy about the whole situation, and they finally told me: ‘We received the casefile, and we had to call you for testimony.’”

Gültekin condemned Germany’s cooperation with the Erdoğan regime and continued: “I said to the judge and the other members of the court: ‘I don’t want to talk to you about what fascism is, you know better than anyone what it is.’ After I gave my statement, they told me the case is closed.”