For the Kurdische Gemeinde Deutschland (KRD), this year’s Newroz festival was overshadowed by Turkey’s ongoing military operations against Kurds in Syria. Many of those attending voiced deep despair at what they perceive as an appeasement policy pursued by the European Union and the German federal government towards Turkish President Erdogan.Elio Adler with Düzen Tekkal
With Ali Ertan Toprak, Chairman of the Kurdische Gemeinde Deutschland
With Christoph de Vries MP (CDU), who is, among other roles, a member of the Interior Affairs Committee
As WerteInitiative, it was important to us to show our support for the large proportion of Kurds who aspire to a free and democratic state under the rule of law in Kurdistan and who wish to achieve this here in Germany by political means. Islamists such as Erdogan, and Iran, describe the Kurdish state as “Zionist”. In doing so they seek to use antisemitism as a common denominator to shore up their own political positions.
We shall stand alongside those Kurdish forces who, guided by the same values as ourselves, are fighting for their rights.
On the margins of the event there was an opportunity for brief and constructive conversations with Düzen Tekkal and Christoph de Vries MP (Interior Affairs Committee of the Bundestag).
