Call: The wish for freedom cannot be banned
    Deutsche Übersetzung: “Der Wunsch nach Freiheit lässt sich nicht verbieten“
    After 25 years of failure – to snuff out the dream of democracy, freedom
    and peace – the German and Turkish governments are still among the
    leading countries fighting globally against democratic protests and
    emancipatory struggles. 25 years ago, the PKK was banned in Germany, yet
    throughout this time the PKK and its project of Democratic Confederalism
    have only grown in significance and appeal. It is no wonder that the Taz
    in September 2014 headlined ‘the PKK belongs to Germany’. On December
    1st we will take to the streets of the German capital to affirm the
    strength of this freedom struggle and the failure of the German-Turkish
    front against democracy – together, as democratic activists, feminists,
    anti-fascists and internationalists.

    For 25 years the German government has used the PKK ban in order to
    silence a vital democratic force on its own soil. After thousands of
    trials, hundreds of arrests and numerous raids, one thing is clear: more
    people are inspired today by the ideas of the PKK and its leader,
    Abdullah Öcalan, than ever before. The resistance in the northern Syrian
    regions of Kobani and Afrin has brought countless more in Germany to
    identify with the project of Democratic Confederalism and its everyday
    living praxis in the Democratic Federation of North Syria. The public
    acceptance of the PKK ban in Germany is crumbling. Millions in Germany
    know that it was the armed action of the PKK against the Islamic State
    in Summer 2014 that prevented the completion of the genocide against the
    Yazidi population in Shingal. With our demonstration on the 1st of
    December we aim to remove one more stone from the wall that is built
    between Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and German democrats.
    Our demands for the German government are clear: It must immediately
    lift the PKK ban. It must cease its appalling anti-democratic policies
    against this freedom movement. However, it is even more important that
    Germany society itself reject the legitimacy of the PKK ban. And that is
    exactly what we have seen: whether during the Kobani protests, the G20
    protest in Hamburg or the nationwide demonstrations against the Police
    Laws (‘Polizeigesetze’), in each case there has been a strong connection
    to the PKK’s engagement for democracy, peace and freedom. We are on the
    right track. No matter how many raids of homes, nor how many
    demonstrations forbidden, nor how many books are seized – the PKK ban
    has long lost its legitimacy in the eyes of many people.
    On December 1st let us send out a powerful message against the
    anti-democratic policies of the German government and its cooperation
    with the dictatorial regime in Turkey. Both the increasing state
    repression in the form of Police Laws and the PKK ban, and the growing
    influence of right-wing forces in Germany are based on the same
    undemocratic, racist and nationalist mentality. Against the Leopard
    tanks, the export credit guarantees (‘Hermesdeckungen’), and the Police
    laws of Germany, we struggle for an alternative dream of a democratic,
    feminist and ecological life – in Germany, Kurdistan and everywhere in
    the world.
    Rise together against ‘Polizeigesetze’, the PKK-ban and nationalism!
    —
    Komiteya Têkiliyên Enternasyonalîst – Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşger
    Revolutionary Youth Movement of Kurdistan – Internationalist Relations
    Commitee