The trial of Kenan Ayaz in Germany has begun – AKEL at his side
Solidarity meeting outside the court in Hamburg
4 November 2023, “Haravgi” newspaper
The trial of Kurdish militant Kenan Ayaz in Germany, who is being tried on charges of “terrorism” at the Hamburg High Regional Court, began yesterday. Before the start of the trial, a protest was held outside the court building with the participation of around 100 Kurds and Germans who stand by Kenan Ayaz. The rally was addressed by AKEL MP Giorgos Koukoumas, who spoke about the struggle in Cyprus in recent months to prevent Kenan Ayaz from being extradited to Germany. The trial will proceed at a very fast pace. 15 trial dates have already been set from today until 21 December.
Kenan Ayaz entered the courtroom to the applause of the entire audience and greeted those present by making a victory sign with his fingers. In the audience were Kurds living in Germany, German members of the German Solidarity Movement for Persecuted Kurds, local members of the German Left party and former members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) active in Turkey who are being persecuted by the Erdogan regime, some of whom have spent much of their lives in Turkish prisons.
The Prosecution made an extensive analysis of the German State’s theory of the history and activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, that it is a terrorist organisation, it carries out attacks in Turkey and so on.
Kenan Ayaz’s lawyer began her introductory speech by pointing out that a lot has changed since Germany designated the PKK as a terrorist organization. Turkey has taken an unprecedented authoritarian turn, Erdogan’s government has violated democracy and human rights at home, supported and armed ISIS, is aggressive against its neighbors, attacks and violently suppresses the Kurdish movement, while it is the Kurds who fought to crush ISIS by calling for peace and a political solution.
It should be recalled that Kenan Ayaz is not accused of committing any violent, criminal or terrorist act. He is accused of having been politically active (seminars, meetings, speeches) in the Kurdish European organization, which they arbitrarily link to the PKK, which they arbitrarily consider a terrorist organization. This is all part of the wave of persecution across Europe at Turkey’s request on the basis that the EU, NATO, the USA and certain European states insist on designating the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
The extradition of Ayaz to the German authorities followed the decision of the Cypriot government to execute the European arrest warrant. Although Cyprus itself does not consider the PKK to be a terrorist organisation, and although both Cypriot as well as European law make it imperative on states to refuse to execute a warrant when it comes to prosecution for political opinions, the Cypriot authorities nevertheless handed Ayaz over to Germany.
