German delegation claims members detained at airports in Erbil, Dusseldorf

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Members of a German delegation, including two German politicians of Kurdish descent, say they were detained at airports in Erbil and Dusseldorf on Saturday.

The delegation said they were visiting the Kurdistan Region to promote peace talks to help end the weeks-long clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkey in the Region.

Hakan Tas, a Berlin delegate from the German Left Party said he was detained in Erbil International Airport’s security sector for 15 hours before he was able to leave and continue his journey. Tas stated he was in “South Kurdistan to attend a peace conference” and had planned “conversations with mayors and civil society organizations.”

Tas stated during his detention he was “interrogated twice by security guards” and was not allowed to clean himself nor did he receive any food.

The delegation says one of the reasons for their journey to Erbil was to gather information on ongoing Turkish military interventions taking place against local Kurdish militias, namely the PKK.

The PKK are engaged in a weeks-long fight with Turkish forces in the area. Turkey launched twin operations Claw-Lightning and Claw-Thunderbolt against the PKK within the Kurdistan Region’s borders on April 23. The focus of the operation is within the Metina and Avashin areas of northern Duhok province. The PKK is an armed group fighting for greater rights for Kurds in Turkey. It has bases in the Kurdistan Region's mountains. 

This has also caused tensions to arise between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the PKK.

"Once again, we call on the PKK and warn them that they should no longer be a reason for unrest and insecurity, and they should withdraw their fighters from Kurdistan Region's borders," the Kurdistan Presidency stated in early June. 

Concerning the alleged detainment, Erbil airport director Ahmad Hoshyar disclosed to Rudaw that “this never happened. He (Hakan Tas) was only checked for his passport, this happens at any airport around the world.”

Another delegate of the German Left Party, Cansu Ozdemir, who is also of Kurdish descent, along with 18 other members of the peace delegation were detained Saturday morning at the Dusseldorf airport by German federal police forces.

“Yes, we are the peace delegation who today was illegally detained by the police at the Dusseldorf airport,” stated Ozdemir in an Instagram video. 

“The police, with flimsy reasoning, hindered us today from traveling to Erbil, south Kurdistan. We were forcefully detained and interrogated,” the German politician further elaborated.

Ozdemir said she was handed a document articulating that the delegation was stopped from their journey because it would negatively impact German-Turkish relations.

The federal police stated to German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) they were unsure if they “could rule out any danger coming from members of this group that could potentially have long-lasting effects on Germany’s security concerns abroad.”

Germany has historically maintained good relations with Turkey.

German Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) politician Peter Altenmaier recently disclosed to Rudaw, “We (Germany) have always maintained the dialog with Turkey, despite major differences in opinion concerning human rights questions.”

“We are happy that Hakan Tas has been released. We demand that all repression from Iraqi and Turkish authorities against members of the freedom delegation immediately stop and that everyone should be free to travel,” chairwoman of the Left Party Katina Schubert tweeted today.