Kurdish Organisations And Section 129a Of The German Penal Code

EDM number 237 in 1996-97, proposed by Neil Gerrard on 21/11/1996.

That this House notes the ban in Germany on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) which was decreed by the Federal Minister of the Interior, Manfred Kanther, on 26th November 1993; believes that it is incumbent upon Germany and the other EU states to facilitate a peaceful negotiated solution to the current conflict in Kurdistan, that to deny the Kurdish community in Europe the political representation of their own choice only serves to criminalise those who are seeking self-determination in their homeland and that a way to a genuine dialogue cannot be opened by silencing the voice of one side in the conflict; also believes that moves towards ending the war in Kurdistan must be preceded by encouraging the development of Kurdish civil society and political institutions and that the repression of these trends by Turkey is the source of the present conflict; is concerned that Germany's action in following Turkey's example creates a grave injustice, not only against the Kurdish community in Europe but against the European peoples' deeply cherished regard for free speech and freedom of political organisation; and calls on the Federal Republic of Germany to lift all bans on Kurdish organisations.

This motion has been signed by a total of 20 MPs.