Members of the international peace delegation "Defend Kurdistan" returning from South Kurdistan were welcomed at Düsseldorf airport on Saturday evening. Sina Reisch from the action alliance "Ende Gelände" explained during the welcome that actually 150 people wanted to travel to South Kurdistan, but numerous people were prevented from leaving by the federal police in Düsseldorf and dozens more were turned away by the KDP when entering Hewlêr. The German government had obstructed the peace delegation on the grounds that it could strain relations with Turkey, thus taking the Turkish side in the war in Kurdistan. The delegation's aim was to stop the occupation by the Turkish state, which was against international law, and to prevent an internal Kurdish war.

The members of the international delegation went on to describe how their planned program in South Kurdistan had been blocked by the KDP. Sina Reisch recalled that 5000 Kurds were killed in Halabja in 1998 by the Saddam regime with German-made poison gas, saying that Germany must apologize to the Kurds and must no longer support Turkish expansionism,

Other members of the delegation are still in Kurdistan and are holding talks with political parties and civil society organizations. Two delegation groups were prevented from traveling to Maxmur and the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal (Sinjar) today as Turkey’s war in Kurdistan continues in full force.