Germany increases pressure on Kurdish activists under anti-terrorism laws

Germany has intensified its crackdown on Kurdish activists under anti-terrorism laws, with nearly 70 people tried for their alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since 2011, according to AZAD's legal office.

The increase in prosecutions follows Germany's adoption of Article 129b of its anti-terrorism legislation, initially adopted to combat international terrorism. However, critics say the law is disproportionately used against Kurdish activists, drawing comparisons with Turkey's repressive policies.

Talk to zgr Politics On Friday, AZAD lawyer Arno-Jermaine Laffin highlighted the growing role Germany is playing in targeting Kurdish opposition figures across Europe. “Most European countries are reluctant to pursue Kurdish activists, but Germany has taken on the task of persecuting Kurdish dissent, thereby inheriting this role from Turkey,” Laffin said. He added that since federal prosecutor Peter Frank met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan in 2022, pressure on Kurdish activists has intensified. “This meeting marked a turning point, leading to an increase in arrests and extraditions,” Laffin explained.

The legal basis for these prosecutions, Article 129b, allows Germany to prosecute individuals for alleged membership in foreign terrorist organizations, even if their activities took place outside Germany. Although initially intended to combat Islamist terrorism, the law is increasingly applied to Kurdish political activists. In 2010, the Federal Court of Justice ruled that this law could be used in cases involving the PKK, leading to a wave of investigations and arrests of Kurdish activists.

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Laffin warned that the German approach is to “Europeanize the repression” against the Kurdish movement, while other European countries have extradited Kurdish activists at Germany's request. In a recent case, Mehmet Ali Ylmaz, who resided in Switzerland, was arrested in Spain and extradited to Germany. “The fact that activists are being arrested in a European country and sent to Germany for prosecution is deeply concerning,” Laffin noted.

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Yener Szen, a lawyer representing several Kurdish activists, criticized Germany's actions, stating that “Germany has adopted one of the harshest policies against Kurdish and Turkish political figures, second only to Turkey itself “. He stressed that Germany was trying to export this repressive approach to other European Union countries, pressuring them to adopt similar policies against political dissent. Germany is essentially sending the message: We do it, so can you, Szen said.

Szen further explained how Germany's extradition requests resulted in politically motivated decisions by European courts. He mentioned the case of Serdar Karako, a journalist who has lived in the Netherlands for 24 years. Although the Dutch prosecutor acknowledged that Karako's activities did not violate Dutch law, he was extradited to Germany in 2023 under Article 129b. “This sets a dangerous precedent where actions that are legal in one country are criminalized in another through political pressure,” Szen noted.

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As Germany continues to expand its crackdown on Kurdish activists, concerns are growing about the broader implications for political freedoms in Europe. “The international community needs to pay attention to this,” Szen urged, calling for more efforts to raise public awareness and challenge Germany's political influence on extradition policies across the EU.

The growing trend of extraditions and trials of Kurdish activists has drawn widespread criticism, especially as Germany's actions increasingly resemble the harsh policies employed by Turkey. “We are witnessing an alarming shift in the way Europe treats political dissidents, and Germany is at the forefront of this worrying development,” Szen concluded.