Chronology Of Kurdish Hungerstriker

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org>
Subject: Chronology Of Kurdish Hungerstrikers In Berlin

KURDISH HUNGER STRIKE IN BERLIN - A PROVISIONAL CHRONOLOGY
 
21.7.95 Around two hundred Kurdish people start a hunger strike 
in front of the Geddchtniskirche (Memorial Church) in Berlin. The
hunger strike is part of an international protest in support of
the more than 10,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails already
on hunger strike since July 14th to achieve prisoners of war
status, in accordance with the Geneva convention, to which Turkey
is also a signatory. 
 
24.7.95 Police confiscate Turkish-language material documenting
the activities of the Turkish army against the population of the 
Kurdish provinces in Turkey. Material is claimed by police to be
"PKK Propaganda", and hence illegal in Germany.
 
25.7.95 A Berlin court declares the protest to be "in continual 
contravention of the law of assembly" and rules that no
alternative open-air events may be held in the Berlin state area
until August 5th. 
 
26.7.95 Police evict hunger strikers and supporters from the area
in front of the church.  Hunger strikers and supporters undertake
an eight kilometer march to the "Navca-Kurd" Kurdish centre in
Berlin's Kreuzberg district. The march is accompanied by around
400 police officers who are reported to have made an unannounced
attack on the demonstration in order to make an arrest. 
 
The situation in Frankfurt - where another group of Kurds are
participating in the international hunger strike protest - is
equally tense. Hunger strikers withdraw to the Katharinenkirche
(St Catherine's church) to escape daily harassment by police. On
July 26th police surround  the church and demand that certain
banners be handed over.  
  
27.7.95 Hunger striker G|lnaz Baghistani, a 41 year old mother of
five, dies of heart failure. A spokersperson for the huger strike
committee states that she had fainted during the previous day's
march to the Kurdish centre but seemed to have recovered. On the
morning of July 27th she was found to be in a coma. Berlin
emergency services stated that Mrs Baghistani was dead before
they reached her. Hunger strike organizers claim Mrs Baghistani's
death is a direct result of the police eviction from the previous
day. "If the eviction had not taken place, G|lmaz Baghistani
would still be alive. The Turkish and German state (sic) 
bear responsibility". 
 
In Frankfurt police break up the hunger strike protest during the
morning of the 27th. Heavy fighting ensues during which police
use water cannon. A different group of Kurdish protesters
attempts to resume the hunger strike in front of the
Katharinenkirche later the same evening. Police attempt to break
up the protest at around 11pm. Protesters organize a spontaneous
demonstration through the city centre. The minister of the 
Katharinenkirche church, Dr Hans-Christoph Stoodt, states that
the "police bear a large part of the responsibility for the
escalation of the situation". 
 
28.7.95 Around 1000 people join a rally in Berlin in solidarity
with the hunger strike. Nine associations of the Turkish Alevite
minority in Germany join the hunger strike. At a futher rally in
the evening German solidarity organisations call for the repeal
of legislation banning Kurdish organisations in Germany and an
end to German weapon sales and economic aid to Turkey. A
spokesperson for the hunger strikers' international solidarity
bureau in Brussels states that the hunger strike has received a
generally positive echo throughout Europe. "The protest actions
have nowhere been attacked as much as in Germany". 
  
31.7.95 Hunger strikers in Berlin declare their readiness to
continue their hunger strike, even after the death of Mrs
Baghistani. In an interview her husband says the Kurds are a
peaceful people but prepared "to sacrifice everything for
freedom". After renewed arson attacks against Turkish premises on
the night of 30-31st July, a spokesperson for the Confederation
of Kurdish Associations YEK-KOM, denies any Kurdish involvement
in the current series of attacks, attributing them instead to
"forces wishing to damage our activities". The Federal
Investigative Agency BKA announces no concrete evidence exists
for a PKK involvement in the attacks, and that statements so far
have been speculation (jw-1.8.95).
 
German supporters of the hunger strike occupy the Jacobi Church
in the town of Gvttingen in the hope of "breaking through the
disinformation about the background and demands of the Kurds'
hunger strike". The protesters claim that whilst the Kurds are
being accused of transporting "their" war to Europe, not a word
is being said about German support for Turkey. And whilst a
member of the Bundestag for the Green Party, Cem Vzdemir, claimed
that "Germany is not doing enough to implement the ban on the
PKK", his Green party colleague and member of the party's federal
executive committee Kambiz Behbahani stated in an interview that
"the ban on the PKK is a political stick to beat the opposition
into silence with ("ein Totschlagargument"). As long as the ban
is not lifted there can be no dialogue with the Kurds. Germany is
the chief partner of the Turkish government and need not be 
surprised that the Kurds also hold the German government
responsible."
 
Police in Berlin have a busy day tearing down posters announcing
a demonstration on August 1st. The posters in question show a
picture of Mrs Baghistani as well as a red star against a yellow
background - a PKK symbol which has been declared illegal. Police
were hence forced to wander round Berlin tearing and scratching
at posters, or in some cases even painting over them. 
 
 
1.8.95 Over 20,000 Kurds participate in the funeral march for
G|lnaz Baghistani in Berlin. The demonstration is peaceful in
spite of near-hysteria on the part of the mainstream press prior
to the march. Newspaper reports of Kurdish sharpshooters
preparing to take shots at the German police prove to be 
unfounded. According to newspaper reports, the spokesman for the
Lower Saxony Verfassungsschutz (Constitutional Protection Agency)
R|diger Hesse had "assumed" that members of the PKK were planning
attacks on the Berlin police. The assumptions were countered by
the Berlin and Federal Verfassungsschutz departments, which are
quoted as calling the claims "exaggerated" (taz 2.8.95).
 
In an earlier interview a speaker for the Berlin hunger strike
solidarity bureau had made the following comment with regard to
the attacks: "It  doesn't make sense. We are fighting for a
political settlement with our hunger strike. The police is always
quick to identify the PKK as the culprit", and "We have achieved
a good deal of international publicity with our hunger strike;
that could lead the Turkish state to attempt to diffame us by
means of secret service actions."
 
The hunger strike continues.
 
(Source: Berlin Antiracist Information Network - July/August 1995)

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