Kurdish Women Condemn Germany's War Against The Kurds

The Free Women's Movement of Kurdistan (TAJK) and the Federation of
Kurdish Associations in Germany (YEK-KOM), both legal organisations,
organised a long march from Mannheim to Strasbourg, seat of the
European Council. The march took place under the motto: "For a free
Kurdistan and against the dirty war of the Turkish state!" This is
their statement on the confrontations in Mannheim, issued on October
10, 1994:

     On Monday, September 26, 1994, 400 people, of whom 300 were
Kurdish women, assembled at the previously-announced starting place
of the march, the Paradeplatz in Mannheim. Shortly after the start
of the women's protest march, they were attacked by the police. The
women tried to protect themselves by forming a human chain but were
dispersed by the police who used all kinds of equipment: water
cannons, truncheons, and police dogs. Several women, some of them
pregnant, received injuries, including severe injuries, and over 330
people (200 women and 130 men) were arrested.
     By their action, the Federal Republic of Germany, in addition
to its recent open military support, has now given Turkey direct and
active assistance in Germany itself, more openly than ever before.
The genocide in Kurdistan is no longer the sole responsibility of
the Turkish state. At the moment, repression against Kurds are not
limited to Kurdistan, but happen wherever Kurds openly support an
independent and free Kurdistan. The orchestrated, brutal, and well-
planned attack on Kurdish women by German policemen in Mannheim is
a result of Germany's anti-Kurdish politics and its close
relationship with the Turkish terrorist state.
     Tens of thousands of Kurds are fleeing to Germany to escape
from the dirty and criminal war that the Turkish state is waging
against them. They flee in the hope that they will be able to live
here in peace, but instead they face persecution, arrests, and
police assaults. All the human rights violations against Kurds in
Germany are done in the name of a democratic country with a
constitution that ostensibly guarantees justice.
     The anti-democratic actions of the federal government must not
be accepted in silence by the public in Germany. The Germans should
know from their history, from their past experience with National
Socialism, that racism and repression against other groups of people
will achieve nothing. After the murder of the Kurdish boy Halim
Dener by the police it should have been assumed that no more Kurdish
blood would ever flow again in Germany. But from their recent
actions, the German police seem utterly indifferent to the
consequences of their brutality.
     By means of police repression, the federal government has taken
away the right of freedom of speech, the right of free assembly, and
the right of freedom of organisation from the Kurds living in
Germany. As the ban of the 3rd International Kurdistan Festival in
Hannover has shown, the Kurds are allowed neither political nor
cultural self-expression.
     Conscious of the fact that Kurdistan is at this moment being
depopulated and eliminated from the map of the world with the
support of German military and economic aid, and that millions of
Kurds are being turned into fugitives in their native country, the
Kurdish people have again and again stressed their intention to find
a peaceful political solution to end the war. They have shown this
in protest marches, events, and festivals. Thus, the Kurdish Women's
March was intended to help focus public attention on the war in
Kurdistan, to appeal for solidarity in Europe, and to make a formal
accusation against the Turkish state and its war of extermination in
front of the European Council.
     The way the German media reported these incidents, however,
was far removed from any journalistic objectivity. Instead of
providing information about the aims and background of the march,
they followed their recently established tradition of public
misrepresentation. The media has deliberately tried to criminalise
Kurdish women by falsely and maliciously claiming that "the
Kurdish women were allegedly throwing molotov cocktails". This is
an attempt to legitimise the violence of the police and the
special units. This kind of press coverage creates a provocative
atmosphere and practically amounts to a public campaign of hatred.
     The German media have recently made it very clear from their
selective coverage of Kurdistan-related subjects that they are on
the side of the war of extermination an are working to legitimise
German politics in that matter. While there is no coverage of
important political and cultural events like the 3rd International
Kurdistan Festival and the participation of 120,000 Kurds and
their guests by world-wide invitation, the Kurdish Women's March
is now being represented as an act of violence against German
state organs.
     We are convinced that neither war nor its methods of public
campaigns of hatred and provocation will promote friendship
between peoples and nations. Today, the Kurdish people are
fighting against the extermination policy of the Turkish state. In
Kurdistan, this fight is by necessity an armed fight, determined
by the historic position of Turkey. Even when faced with the
reality of death, the Kurds have always sought a political
solution. In contrast, the Turkish state speaks the language of
violence and terror so clearly revealed when Kurdish MPs were
arrested and Kurdish institutions and political parties were
banned. Turkey is responsible for ten years of dirty war, the
deaths of more than 20,000 people, and a colossal destruction of
Kurdish property.
     The Kurds called upon Turkey to end the war, first by a
unilateral ceasefire in March 1993, and then again in March 1994
at the international conference on north-west Kurdistan in
Brussels. They have appealed to the world, and especially the
European countries who are involved in this war themselves, to
mediate in the conflict.
     But the answer from European countries like France and
Germany has been repression and police violence against peaceful
Kurdish public protests. These countries demonstrate their
hostility against the Kurdish people and their legitimate and
elementary rights of independence and freedom.
     The Kurdish women unequivocally condemn the brutality of the
German authorities and appeal to all national and international
organisations, human rights associations, and political parties to
support our campaign against the policy of criminalisation and
repression by these countries.

(From: Kurdistan Report #20 - January/February 1995)