GÖTTINGEN – Our news agency recently received information from the ‘Defend Kurdistan’ campaign that the SPD office in Göttingen has been occupied. Today, November 25, activists occupied the SPD office in Göttingen. With this action they are directed against the current attacks of the Turkish occupying state on the areas in north-east Syria and Iraq (southern Kurdistan) and call on the federal government to act consistently. The squatters are also demanding a public statement from the SPD and the party “Die Grünen” on the list of demands, which was handed over to the local offices in Göttingen on November 23rd.
“With this action we would like to make our small contribution to the global resistance that is forming against the Turkish government’s war of aggression,” says Maike from Defend Kurdistan.“Since the weekend, the autonomous region of Rojava in northern Syria and Kurdish autonomous areas in Iraq have been bombed extensively by the Turkish military, the latest blow in a war by the Erdoğan regime against the Kurds inside and outside Turkey that has been going on for years. This destructive war of aggression is morally on a par with the attack on Ukraine, and our appeal to the federal government is basically just to treat it as such. A few days ago we handed over our concrete demands to the local offices of the SPD and the reasons and only received phrases in reply; that’s why we are now making it clear that we will not be easily brushed off. The people in the attacked regions of Syria and Kurdistan need the attention and support of the world public! The emancipatory society that is being built in Rojava needs the solidarity of all who stand up for a better life and an end to patriarchal oppression! We call on everyone to take part in the protests against Erdoğan’s war! Demonstrate, block, be creative!”
Regarding the claims handed over, Clara from the campaign explains:“The traffic light government has promised a ‘feminist foreign policy’ quite broadly. The war of annihilation against Rojava, where women are involved in shaping politics, society and the military to an almost unprecedented extent, would actually be a good reason to finally start with this announced feminist foreign policy. Instead, Interior Minister Faeser now of all times affords a friendly visit to Erdoğan and uncritically accepts his justification of the war of aggression as “fighting terrorism”! If you imagine such behavior towards Putin instead of Erdoğan, it becomes abundantly clear how absurd and cynical it is! The federal government has economic and military leverage, with which it could put a stop to the Erdoğan regime – an end to the supply of arms to this regime is such a fundamental measure in this situation that it should not even be necessary to demand it! If the Greens and the SPD don’t want the phrase ‘feminist foreign policy’ to be mixed up with ‘blossoming landscapes in the East’ and ‘pensions are secure’, then they shouldn’t only bring out their values in the election campaign. Isolated, echoing statements from a few members of parliament are not enough: the local associations of the parties must increase the pressure on the federal level in a coordinated manner until action is actually taken. With today’s line-up we want to make it clear how serious we are about this!” If the Greens and the SPD don’t want the phrase ‘feminist foreign policy’ to be mixed up with ‘blossoming landscapes in the East’ and ‘pensions are secure’, then they shouldn’t only bring out their values in the election campaign. Isolated, echoing statements from a few members of parliament are not enough: the local associations of the parties must increase the pressure on the federal level in a coordinated manner until action is actually taken. With today’s line-up we want to make it clear how serious we are about this!” If the Greens and the SPD don’t want the phrase ‘feminist foreign policy’ to be mixed up with ‘blossoming landscapes in the East’ and ‘pensions are secure’, then they shouldn’t only bring out their values in the election campaign. Isolated, echoing statements from a few members of parliament are not enough: the local associations of the parties must increase the pressure on the federal level in a coordinated manner until action is actually taken. With today’s line-up we want to make it clear how serious we are about this!” The local associations of the parties must increase the pressure on the federal level in a coordinated manner until action is actually taken. With today’s line-up we want to make it clear how serious we are about this!” The local associations of the parties must increase the pressure on the federal level in a coordinated manner until action is actually taken. With today’s line-up we want to make it clear how serious we are about this!”
The catalog of demands of the campaign includes the following four demands on the Greens and SPD:
“1) Publicly and in your party, advocate that the Federal Republic of Germany apply to the OPCW (‘Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’) to investigate the chemical weapons attacks in Southern Kurdistan/Northern Iraq.
2) Publicly support the campaign for a no-fly zone over northern and eastern Syria ‘noflyzone4rojava’10.
3) Publicly and within your party, advocate for Germany to impose an embargo on the supply of arms and arms parts to Turkey and Iran.
4) Publicly and in your party, advocate that the ban on the ‘Kurdistan Workers’ Party’ (PKK), which repeatedly serves as justification for the persecution and oppression of Kurdish and democratically moved people in Germany, Turkey and all of Kurdistan , will be annulled.”
