DGerman politicians condemn the brief arrest of MP Gökay Akbulut in Turkey. “The arrest of a German citizen just because of public expressions of opinion is unacceptable for the Federal Republic of Germany,” said CDU MP Johann Wadephul of the FAZ. “The federal government must make this unmistakably clear to the Turkish government.”
Green MP Max Lucks, chairman of the German-Turkish parliamentary group in the Bundestag, said he knew the left-wing politician “as an upright democrat”. He promised her his “full solidarity and support” after learning about the incident. Akbulut’s “short-term detention” despite his diplomatic passport was “an inexcusable ballast for the German-Turkish friendship”.
Upon entering Turkey on August 3, Akbulut found out that an arrest warrant had been issued against her. The politician from the Left Party was then held for several hours, even after identifying herself as a member of the Bundestag. According to her own statements, she was accused of “terrorist propaganda”. It was apparently about entries in social media as well as political statements and speeches about the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the situation of the Kurds. In 2019, for example, she criticized a Turkish military offensive in northern Syria when the army attacked the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces. In addition, Akbulut from Mannheim, who was born in Turkey and has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017, is campaigning for the lifting of the ban on activities against the PKK in Germany.
Outrage over “criminalization”
Wadephul considers the ban on the PKK to be “right and necessary”. But he also says that Germans are allowed to criticize this, “especially as parliamentarians, of course.” With a view to Turkey’s newly awakened aspirations for membership of the European Union in the near future, the politician says: “A Turkey that repeatedly pretends to want to join the EU as quickly as possible cannot afford to violate European rule-of-law standards in this way.” Lucks finds it “unacceptable that, once again, an attempt has been made in Turkey to criminalize a democratically elected MP”.
The German-Turkish parliamentary group is planning a trip to Turkey in October. Lucks emphasizes to the FAZ that this will only take place with Akbulut. “We will certainly not make a Bundestag delegation dependent on autocrats and a politically instrumentalized judiciary.” However, it is still unclear whether the trip can take place given the Bundestag’s already heavily used travel budget. Should the group go to Turkey, they will also address the “fear of many German citizens of being arrested for political reasons if they enter the country”.
The Foreign Office warns on its website that German nationals can be arbitrarily arrested, prevented from entering Turkey or even banned from leaving the country. Above all, due to the broad definition of terrorism in Turkey, “mere sharing, commenting or ‘liking’ of posts in social media” could be sufficient for criminal prosecution. The authorities often refer to the support of or propaganda for organizations classified as terrorist. These include the so-called Islamic State or the PKK.
PKK also appeals to young Germans
According to information from the federal government in April, Germans have been refused entry to Turkey in 51 cases since July 2022. At that time, 64 German nationals were banned from leaving the country. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 18 of the 39 exit bans imposed last year related to allegations of propaganda for a terrorist organization, membership in or support for one.
The PKK was founded by Abdullah Öcalan in 1984 to use guerrilla units to fight for Kurdish autonomy. Most recently, Ankara blamed the PKK for detonating an explosive device on Istanbul’s İstiklal shopping street. Six people were killed and 81 injured in November. The PKK denied involvement in the attack. According to data from the International Crisis Group, more than 6,600 people have died in clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militias in Turkey, Syria and Iraq since 2015 alone, including more than 600 civilians.
In Germany, the PKK has been banned from operating since 1993 and has been on the EU terror list since 2002. The 2022 Office for the Protection of the Constitution published in June devotes several pages to the activities of the PKK. Accordingly, the organization in Europe has been trying “for years to have a largely non-violent appearance”. In Germany, the main focus is on the logistical and financial support of the PKK, the recruitment of new supporters and “propaganda on our own behalf”, for example through demonstrations or folk festivals.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution sums it up: “The PKK has the largest number of members and is the most powerful organization in foreign-related extremism in Germany.” It has great mobilization potential. The PKK succeeds in recruiting young people in Germany in particular “to travel to the armed struggle in the Kurdish settlement areas”. In June, Turkish state media reported that Thomas J. from Mainburg, alias Azed Sergeş, had been killed in a drone attack on PKK units in northern Iraq.
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