German police shut down two Kurdish publishers for PKK ties
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – German authorities searched and shut down operations of two Kurdish publishing businesses on Tuesday, alleging the companies were financially supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
"As the PKK is still active despite being banned in Germany, it is necessary to rein in the PKK and uphold our legal system," Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said in a statement, Deutsche Welle reported.
Mezopotamien Publishing and MIR Multimedia have been active in Germany for years. Mezopotamien Publishing has published many works by PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan. MIR Multimedia has released music of dozens of artists, mainly Kurds from Turkey, including popular musicians Ahmet Kaya and Sivan Perwer.
The Interior Ministry said the businesses were sending their profits exclusively to the PKK.
This is not the first search of the institutions. They were raided in March 2018 when books, albums, and recordings were confiscated, according to the pro-PKK Firat News Agency (ANF).
The co-chair of NAV-DEM, a Kurdish organization with ties to the PKK and active in Germany, condemned the authorities’ decision to close the businesses.
“The Turkish state is trying for decades to erase Turkish identity and culture… With its ban, the German government has now decided to continue these inhuman politics on German ground,” said Tahir Kocer, Associated Press reported.
The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkey, EU countries, and the USA for its decades-long fight against the Turkish state.
According to the ministry’s figures, there are about 14,500 PKK supporters in Germany. In 2008, Germany banned Roj TV for alleged links to the PKK.