03/06/2018

Germany must not serve as dictator Erdogan’s henchman

Extradition would be an affront to all Kurds, and a human rights violation (Press Release)

Salih Muslim, the former chairman of the Syrian Kurdish party PYD, who is wanted by Turkey, has been advocating for the human rights of the Kurds for many years. Photo: Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung via Flickr

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns that Germany should not extradite the Syrian Kurdish politician Salih Muslim, who is wanted by the Turkish authorities. “Germany must not serve as dictator Erdogan’s henchman. There must be no deal with Turkey at the expense of the human rights of the Kurds. If the prominent Kurdish politician were to be extradited, this would encourage authoritarian states to instrumentalize Interpol,” said Ulrich Delius, the STP’s director, in Göttingen on Tuesday.

The STP demanded the German police forces to stop cooperating with Turkey as long as the country continues to misuse arrest warrants to silence regime critics. During his visit to Berlin, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu had announced that he would demand the extradition of Salih Muslim.

According to the STP, the demands of the Turkish Foreign Minister as “bold and insolent”. “It borders on absurdity that Cavusoglu visited the tourism fair ITB in Berlin to recommend Turkey to German tourists by demonstrating arbitrariness and lawlessness,” Delius stated.

The former chairman of the Syrian Kurdish party PYD, who is wanted by Turkey, has been advocating for the human rights of the Kurds for many years. “It would be an affront to all Kurds – and a human rights violation – to extradite the Kurdish politician, while Turkey is using German-built tanks to invade the Kurdish region of Afrin in Syria,” warned Delius.

Salih Muslim had been arrested in the Czech Republic on February 24, 2018, due to a “Red Notice” of the international police organization Interpol, which had been issued by Turkey. Two days later, he was released due to massive protests at home and abroad, without a decision about the Turkish request for extradition. The Czech authorities had ordered Salih Muslim not to leave the European Union until further notice.

Header Photo: Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung via Flickr