43 Kurdish, Turkish, Armenian, Assyrian-Syriac and German organizations came together and held a march and a rally on Saturday against the oppression the AKP-MHP implements in Turkey and Kurdistan and Germany’s ban on democratic institutions and symbols. Preparations for the march had continued for days, but two days before the march German police announced that they have decided to disallow Kurdish symbols and photographs of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The legal appeals have been filed against the ban, but they didn’t achieve results. Saturday in the morning hours, Kurds and Turks from Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria started to gather in Dusseldorf.

The march started two hours late with high tensions. Tens of thousands gathered in two branches behind a banner that read “No Pasaran”. Öcalan posters were taken out and the crowd started to march with frequent chants of “Bijî Serok Apo” and “Down with fascism”. After 15 minutes, two branches met on Heinrich-Heine Allee. After a while, the marchers opened thousands of Öcalan possters and continued on. Then, the police held all exits of Heinrich-Heine Allee and other streets and attempted to prevent the march.

KURDS’ RESISTANCE DEFEATED THE BAN

Despite police insistence, the crowd didn’t put the Öcalan posters away and started chanting. Then, the police attacked the crowd holding an impromptu sit-in with teargas, batons and water cannons. Many were wounded and dozens have been detained. The German police disregarded the elderly, women and children and violently attacked the crowd, reminiscent of Turkish police attacks on Kurds in the streets of Amed.

The Kurdish youth started to resist the attack with water cannons and tear gas, frequently chanting “Bijî Serok Apo”. In the afternoon, thousands of Öcalan posters in different colors filled the Heinrich-Heine Allee. Police frequently made announcements from their vehicles but the Kurdish youth opened a large scale PKK flag and continued to resist.

The Kurds resisted police attacks for 5 hours, then ended the protest with a rally held on Heinrich-Heine Allee. Despite the insistence of the police, the Öcalan posters stayed visible until the evening and the speeches in the rally condemned Germany’s approach.

“KURDS DIDN’T HEED THE BAN”

KCDK-E Co-chair Yüksel Koç spoke first in the rally and condemned the German police’s approach, adding that they will resist all bans. Koç said: “The German state is carrying out Erdoğan’s directives and bans our symbols. We will absolutely not accept that, we will resist until the end. Our legal battle will continue. Today, despite the ban and attack by the police, our people didn’t put the Öcalan posters down and they resisted. We didn’t bow down, and we have achieved our goal, all should know this.”

“LET’S INCREASE THE SERHILDAN”

HDK-E Co-chair Demir Çelik stressed Abdullah Öcalan’s resistance and said: “Today, the bonfire of freedom has been started in the mountains and in Rojava. All the peoples are watching them. And here, we are in resistance against oppression and fascism. I am calling on all to join the serhildan (Kurdish word for uprising). Our resistance will continue everywhere until Öcalan is free.”

Süleyman Gürcan spoke in the name of the March Preparation Committee and condemned the German police.

Gürcan stressed that the German police today was no different from the AKP police and added: “The situation is the same. But all should know that we won’t give up in the face of oppression and bans. We will continue to resist and we will not bow down.”

Die Linke MP Andrej Hunko addressed the crowd and condemned the police attack on the march, calling it unacceptable. Hunko also condemned the banning of Öcalan posters and called for an end to attacks against Kurds. He stated that the ban on Öcalan posters and YPG/YPJ flags should be lifted, and the PKK ban should end.

The rally concluded with slogans of “Bijî Serok Apo” and “Down with fascism”.