LARNACA – Kenan Ayaz was detained by the Cypriot police on 15 March while he was trying to depart from Larnaca airport to visit his family in Sweden. Ayaz was detained due to the German state’s arrest warrant and extradition request. At the hearing held in Larnaca, Ayaz’s lawyer Efstatios Elstation reacted that he had committed an “unlawful process” throughout the trial and said, “Kenan Ayaz has a political identity.”
Expressing that Cyprus accepted his political asylum request based on this fact, Elstation said, “Currently, he has a political refugee status. “If the court upholds the decision to extradite him to Germany, it will also nullify the asylum request,” he said.
A law professor, who came from Belgium for Ayaz’s trial, stressed in front of the court that the PKK is not a “terrorist organization”. Kenan Ayaz, on the other hand, talked about the historical relations between Germany and the fascist Turkish State and said, “Germany supports the genocide that is intended to be committed against the Kurdish people, terrorism is a legal cover.”
The Larnaca Court decided not to extradite Ayaz to Germany, leaving the way to appeal to the Supreme Court open. The lawyer of politician Ayaz stated that they have the right to object for three days and that they will appeal. The Supreme Court also has to make a decision within 10 days.
