German police raid home of activist who posted YPG flag on Facebook

MUNICH, Germany (Kurdistan 24) – Authorities in Germany on Thursday raided the home of a left-wing activist who posted the flag of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to his Facebook page.

A special police commando raided the activist’s apartment in the Schwabing district of the Bavarian capital at 6:00 a.m., confiscating electronic devices, local media reported.

According to the police’s search warrant, the suspect, identified as Benjamin Russ, posted the image of the yellow triangular YPG flag in March.

Russ told the Taz newspaper he had posted the photo on his Facebook page “in protest at a new ban imposed by the German Interior Ministry on all symbols related to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”

The German Interior Ministry demanded a ban on all symbols related to the PKK and YPG in March.

The Ministry said the ban was an “update” to the PKK ban in place since 1993.

The PKK is a Kurdish rebel force currently engaged in a decades-long war with the Turkish government for broader Kurdish rights.

Turkey, the European Union, and the United States label the PKK a “terrorist” organization.

Russ told German media he was in Greece when the raid took place but said police were tracking him since May.

Ankara has accused the YPG of being an offshoot of the PKK, although the US disagrees with its NATO ally, and even provides military support to the Kurdish forces in Syria.

Washington began sending military supplies to the YPG in May, emphasizing they were “the only force on the ground that [could] successfully seize Raqqa.”

The Kurdish YPG forces are currently spearheading an offensive against the Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, the militant group’s de facto capital and last major stronghold in Syria.

The YPG has also aided German intelligence, which is part of the US-led coalition battling IS in Syria.

Amid tensions between Germany and Turkey, Berlin’s crackdown on PKK/YPG supporters could be a show of solidarity between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan on Saturday criticized the German government for slating his appeal to Turks living in Germany not to vote for Merkel in September’s election.

Editing by G.H. Renaud