Tatort Kurdistan, an association of German activists, have organized a demo to take place in the German capital Berlin on 16 November to demand the removal of the ban the German state has imposed on the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) for 20 years now.

During the demo which will be joined by Kurds living in Germany as well as German NGOs and individuals, demonstrators will call on the German government to support the democratic resolution process and to end its criminalization policy against Kurds.

On 26 November 1993, German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther of the Helmut Kohl government announced the ban on the PKK with a special bulletin prepared by the federal prosecution office. Dozens of Kurdish associations and establishments were closed and a systematic criminalization policy against Kurds was put into effect after the introduction of the ban on the party.

The demo to mark the 20th anniversary of the PKK ban in Germany will start with a march from the Alexanderplatz at 11 am and be followed by a rally near the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In a statement released before the rally, “Tatort Kurdistan” association has called on the German state to play an affirmative role in the resolution and peace process in Kurdistan and Turkey.

The association, reminding that Kurdish politicians and activists in Germany are being sentenced due to the article 129b of the “anti-terror law”, urged the German state to end the repression of Kurdish politicians.

Tatort Kurdistan also called on the European community to see and recognize the Rojava revolution, underlining that the Kurdish liberation movement gave a struggle for the democratisation and liberation of the entire Middle East region.