Deutsche Übersetzung: “Der Wunsch nach Freiheit lässt sich nicht verbieten“
After 25 years of failure – to snuff out the dream of democracy, freedom and peace – the German and Turkish governments are still among the leading countries fighting globally against democratic protests and emancipatory struggles. 25 years ago, the PKK was banned in Germany, yet throughout this time the PKK and its project of Democratic Confederalism have only grown in significance and appeal. It is no wonder that the Taz in September 2014 headlined ‘the PKK belongs to Germany’. On December 1st we will take to the streets of the German capital to affirm the strength of this freedom struggle and the failure of the German-Turkish front against democracy – together, as democratic activists, feminists, anti-fascists and internationalists.
For 25 years the German government has used the PKK ban in order to silence a vital democratic force on its own soil. After thousands of trials, hundreds of arrests and numerous raids, one thing is clear: more people are inspired today by the ideas of the PKK and its leader, Abdullah Öcalan, than ever before. The resistance in the northern Syrian regions of Kobani and Afrin has brought countless more in Germany to identify with the project of Democratic Confederalism and its everyday living praxis in the Democratic Federation of North Syria. The public acceptance of the PKK ban in Germany is crumbling. Millions in Germany know that it was the armed action of the PKK against the Islamic State in Summer 2014 that prevented the completion of the genocide against the Yazidi population in Shingal. With our demonstration on the 1st of December we aim to remove one more stone from the wall that is built between Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and German democrats.
Our demands for the German government are clear: It must immediately lift the PKK ban. It must cease its appalling anti-democratic policies against this freedom movement. However, it is even more important that Germany society itself reject the legitimacy of the PKK ban. And that is exactly what we have seen: whether during the Kobani protests, the G20 protest in Hamburg or the nationwide demonstrations against the Police Laws (‘Polizeigesetze’), in each case there has been a strong connection to the PKK’s engagement for democracy, peace and freedom. We are on the right track. No matter how many raids of homes, nor how many demonstrations forbidden, nor how many books are seized – the PKK ban has long lost its legitimacy in the eyes of many people.
On December 1st let us send out a powerful message against the anti-democratic policies of the German government and its cooperation with the dictatorial regime in Turkey. Both the increasing state repression in the form of Police Laws and the PKK ban, and the growing influence of right-wing forces in Germany are based on the same undemocratic, racist and nationalist mentality. Against the Leopard tanks, the export credit guarantees (‘Hermesdeckungen’), and the Police laws of Germany, we struggle for an alternative dream of a democratic, feminist and ecological life – in Germany, Kurdistan and everywhere in the world.
Rise together against ‘Polizeigesetze’, the PKK-ban and nationalism!
Der Wunsch nach Freiheit lässt sich nicht verbieten 