Protests against the threatened extradition of Kurdish activist Kenan Ayaz from Cyprus to Germany continue. Activists gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Nicosia to protest against the extradition decision. The court will decide on Ayaz's extradition after the lawyers’ appeal against the decision of a Cypriot District Court.

The participants of the protest unfurled banners reading "Freedom for Kenan Ayaz" and "Cyprus - Stop the extradition! The people repeatedly chanted "Bijî Kurdistan" (Long Live Kurdistan) and demanded the immediate release of Ayaz as they staged a sit-in.

Lezgin Serhat said that the decision to extradite Ayaz was purely political: "It is not Germany that is behind this extradition request, but the fascist Turkish state. It shows again the same attitude that led to the abduction and extradition of Abdullah Öcalan. This decision by Cyprus will cause deep divisions. It must be reversed immediately, and our friend must be released. We will continue our sit-in strike until Kenan Ayaz is released."

"WE DENOUNCE OURSELVES"

Serhat continued: "We tell the court that decided to extradite Kenan Ayaz to Germany at the request of the fascist Turkish state once again that our friend Kenan is not a terrorist. He has done nothing but defend a just struggle, a just cause. His struggle is also our struggle. If our friend commits a crime, we declare in a loud voice that we are his accomplices in that crime. From here, we declare that we denounce ourselves to the court that made this decision. As Kurds in Cyprus, we will sign this self-report with our friends and submit it to the court."

BROAD PROTESTS AGAINST EXTRADITION DECISION

Parliamentarians, civil society organisations, youth organisations, anarchist groups, the left-wing AKEL party and the Green Party as well as many other institutions and personalities are protesting against the extradition decision against Kenan Ayaz with press statements and posts on social media.

On the website of Sigma, the leading Cypriot newspaper, an article appeared with the headline "Today's shame will weigh on us for years to come". The article recalls the Greek involvement in the abduction of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and says: "If the decision of the Larnaca District Court to extradite Kurdish politician Kenan Ayaz is actually enforced, Cyprus will share responsibility for the suffering of an intellectual and Kurdish politician in German and Turkish prisons."

Alekos Michailidis, who has a large readership on the news website Philienews, has also been reporting on the trial almost daily in his column since the arrest of Kenan Ayaz. Before the court verdict, Michailidis wrote articles such as "Those who resist always have the last word", "Let him go or arrest us all", "What is happening between the PKK and Turkey is an armed conflict, not a terrorist case", "When will we remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organisations?", "A Kurdish intellectual in Cypriot prisons". After the District Court's verdict, he wrote articles titled "Cypriot justice collaborates with Turkish-German man-eaters" and "How can such humiliation be legitimised?". The Kurdish Solidarity Committee of Cyprus calls on all Cypriots to participate in the demonstration "Freedom for Kenan Ayaz".

BACKGROUND

A local court in the south of Cyprus granted the German extradition request for Kenan Ayaz on Wednesday. The 49-year-old will be handed over to the German judiciary, ruled Michalis Papathanasiou, judge at the Larnaca District Court.

Kenan Ayaz is a long-time activist of the Kurdish movement and was imprisoned in Turkey for twelve years because of his political identity. He has been living in the Greek part of Cyprus since 2013 and is a recognised refugee. On 15 March, he was arrested at Larnaca airport when he wanted to travel to Sweden for a family visit.

Ayaz was arrested on the basis of a German arrest warrant on charges of "membership in a foreign terrorist organisation" - meaning the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). His defence lawyer complained at the trial that this might have been a commitment to the rights of the oppressed Kurdish people, and cited several reasons why extradition was inadmissible under Cypriot law and thus unlawful. He said it was also absurd that Ayaz was being held in extradition custody for something for which he had been granted political asylum in Cyprus.

Ayaz himself spoke of "indestructible relations" between Germany and the fascist Turkish state and rejected the German judiciary's accusation of terrorism. "Playing the terror card is part of the strategy to discredit the resistance against the oppression and discrimination of Kurds," Ayaz said.