Kurds occupy public offices in Germany, criticized for it
To draw attention to the situation of Kurds in Turkey and the nearly two decades solitary confinement of their leader, Kurds in Germany have been peacefully protesting across Germany.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – To draw attention to the situation of Kurds in Turkey and the nearly two decades solitary confinement of their leader, Kurds have been peacefully protesting across Germany and have gained mixed response.
Last week some 30 Kurds staged a nearly two-hour long occupation demonstration in a public broadcast station in Dusseldorf.
They entered West German Broadcasting (WDR) in Düsseldorf on Thursday night and occupied the station but left when asked by the police.
Kurds have public sympathy for their cause in Germany since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is internationally criticized for cracking down on dissidents.
In June, a group of German MPs filed a war crime suit against Erdogan for his treatment of the Kurdish minority.
The lawsuit is specifically about the tragedy in the city of Cizre in the Sirnak province, where NGOs say some 178 civilians were killed in February while taking shelter in basements, and whose bodies were later found burned up - some perhaps burned alive.
The protestors, however, have received some controversy since they ask for the release of the Kurdistan Workers' Paty (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan who has been imprisoned in Imrali island since 1999.
PKK is an outlawed organization and is designed a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the US and their Western allies.
Also a German-based Kurdish organization criticized PKK for occupying certain places in Europe, considering it a distraction from the more important cause of defeating the Islamic State.
The Kurdish Community in Germany (known as KGD) in a statement released on Thursday said, “We are concerned about the recent occupations of the WDR studio in Düsseldorf, a Church in Hamburg and the ORF studios in Vienna.”
KGD calls on the PKK to not allow the tragedies of the 1990s repeat in German cities, stating that “In our opinion, the above-mentioned actions are counterproductive and harm the legitimate claims of the Kurds.”
Moreover, the KGD states that by occupying the offices and other public places, the legitimate Kurdish cause for freedom and equality gets stained, adding that those who violate the limits of this right make themselves implausible and harm their very own democratic concerns.
Those trying to enforce their rights in a democratic country with such actions disturb the free and democratic order in a place of freedom [Germany], the statement read. “This freedom needs to be respected and any violent act should be renounced.”
According to the KGD, more than 1.2 million Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan live in Germany and feel at home in this country.
Editing by Ava Homa