Germany bans Kurdish PKK publishing houses

German authorities banned two media organizations it said were linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) following raids on Tuesday.

Police searched the Mesopotamia Publishing House and MIR Multimedia in the western states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony and seized material, the Interior Ministry said.

PKK is considered to be a terrorist organisation by the European Union and Turkey.

Read more: Kurds in Germany: Fear is in the air

The ministry said the groups were posing as publishing companies, but the earnings from the two organizations went exclusively to the PKK and strengthened its capabilities in Germany.

“As the PKK is still active despite being banned in Germany, it is necessary to rein in the PKK and uphold our legal system,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said.

With about 14,500 supporters, the PKK is the biggest radical foreign organization in Germany, which is a base for recruitment and refinancing.

Relations between Germany, where there are some 3 million people with a Turkish background including many Kurds, have improved in the last few months after serious tensions over the arrests of German citizens in Turkey and a crackdown on dissent in Ankara after a 2016 failed coup.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly criticized Germany for not fighting more effectively against the PKK and the movement of Fetullah Gulen, an Islamic cleric based in the US whom Ankara blames for the attempted coup in 2016.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  July 2007: Abdullah Gul becomes Turkey’s first Islamist president

  After years of free market reforms, Turkey’s transition slowly begins to reverse. Islamist Abdullah Gul’s candidacy as president in 2007 marks a clear shift away from secularist policies, and strains relations between the ruling AKP and the military. However, with broad support from both conservative Muslims and liberals, the AKP wins the parliamentary elections and Gul is elected president.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  September 2010: Constitutional reforms take hold

  Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan tables a constitutional reform increasing parliamentary control of the judiciary and army, effectively allowing the government to pick judges and senior military officials. The amendment, which is combined with measures also aimed at protecting child rights and the strengthening of the right to appeal, passed by a wide margin in a public referendum.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  May 2013: Dissent erupts in Gezi Park

  Pent-up anger directed by young people at Erdogan, Gul and the Islamist-rooted AKP hits a boiling point in May 2013. The violent police breakup of a small sit-in aimed at protecting Istanbul’s Gezi Park spurs one of the fiercest anti-government protests in years. Eleven people are killed and more than 8,000 injured, before the demonstrations eventually peter out a month later.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  July 2015: Turkey relaunches crackdown against Kurds

  A fragile ceasefire deal between the Turkish government and the Kurdish rebel PKK group breaks under the weight of tensions aggravated by the war in Syria. Military forces resume operations in the mostly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. In early 2016, the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) — a breakaway PKK faction — claim responsibility for two bombings in Ankara, each killing 38 people.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  July 2016: Military coup attempt falls short

  A military coup attempt against the government shakes Turkey to its core and briefly turns the country into a war zone. Some 260 civilians die in overnight clashes with the army across five major cities. Erdogan, however, rallies supporters and the following morning rebel soldiers are ambushed by thousands of civilians on the Bosporus Bridge. The troops eventually drop their guns and surrender.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  July 2016: President Erdogan enacts a state of emergency

  In the aftermath of the failed coup, Erdogan announces a state of emergency, leading to arrests of tens of thousands of suspected coup sympathizers and political opponents. Among those detained are military and judiciary officials and elected representatives from the pro-Kurdish HDP party. The purge is later expanded to include civil servants, university officials and teachers.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  2016: Crackdown on the press

  As part of Erdogan’s crackdown against supposed “terrorist sympathizers,” Turkey becomes one of the world’s leading jailers of journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders. The government shuts down around 110 media outlets in the year following the coup and imprisons more than 100 journalists, including German-Turkish correspondent Deniz Yücel.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  March 2017: AKP officials try to stoke support in Western Europe

  With a referendum on expanding Erdogan’s presidential powers set for April 2016, AKP officials look to galvanize support among Turks living in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands forbids Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu from landing in the country, while Germany opts to cancel two rallies. Erdogan accuses both countries of Nazi-style repression.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  April 2017: Erdogan clinches referendum vote

  Erdogan narrowly wins the referendum vote expanding his power. As a result, Turkey’s parliamentary system is abolished in favor of a strong executive presidency. Erdogan is also allowed to remain in power potentially until 2029. However, international election monitors claim that opposition voices were muzzled and that media coverage was dominated by figures from the “yes” campaign.

• Charting Turkey’s slide towards authoritarianism

  June 2018: Election wins secure Erdogan’s power

  Erdogan secures a new five-year term and sweeping new executive powers after winning landmark elections on June 24. His AKP and their nationalist allies also win a majority in parliament. International observers criticize the vote, saying media coverage and emergency measures gave Erdogan and the AKP an “undue advantage” in the vote.

  Author: David Martin

law/jm (AP, dpa, Reuters)

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