German police conducted an armed raid on the Kurdish community association Nav Berlin on Saturday, 5 October, arresting two of its members, immediately followed by an attempted arson attack on the same centre the following day.
A spokesperson for Nav Berlin’s management committee said that armed police entered the culture centre, where there were children also present, and arrested two of their members. The management committee was not made aware of the grounds for the detentions.
One of those detained was Hüseyin Yılmaz, co-chair of the culture centre, and the pro-Kurdish People’s Democracy Party (HADEP) mayor of Ağrı (Agirî) in Turkey between 1999 and 2004. The second detainee remains unnamed.
The two were later released, and Yılmaz has since spoken about the incident. He reacted angrily to the attitude of the German police, saying that their methods were “no different to the oppressive policies applied in Turkey and Kurdistan, and should be viewed as a result of those same policies”. He said “the targeting of a community centre with an armed intervention is unacceptable”, explaining that he saw the arrest as part of a greater psychological warfare aimed at instilling fear in the community.
“As the anniversary of Abdullah Öcalan’s arrest approaches, we believe that such operations are part of an international conspiracy,” said Yılmaz, referring to the controversial arrest and imprisonment of the Kurdish leader, who has been detained on the Turkish prison island of İmralı since 1999. He went on to say that Öcalan’s isolation is a direct result of this, and pledged to continue the struggle, calling on all revolutionary, socialist, democratic and peace-loving forces to show solidarity.
Razzia und Brandanschlag auf kurdisches Kulturzentrum Nav-Berlin
Freie Kurdische Gemeinde von Polizei durchsucht und von versuchter Brandstiftung getroffenhttps://t.co/CSRxSSqft9
— Civaka Azad (@civaka_azad) October 6, 2024
Then late on the afternoon of Sunday, 6 October, as the community centre was still reeling from the armed police intervention, it became the subject of an arson attack, reports German news site nd. Ferat Koçak, a Left Party member of Berlin’s House of Delegates, was in the culture centre at the time along with 50 others, when an individual poured petrol over the doors and windows, but fled without lighting it. Koçak reported the incident to the authorities and announced it on X, formerly Twitter. Nav-Berlin’s management committee believes it to have been the work of Turkish nationalists.
Then late on the afternoon of Sunday, 6 October, as the community centre was still reeling from the armed police intervention, it became the subject of an arson attack, reports German news site nd. Ferat Koçak, a Left Party member of Berlin’s House of Delegates, was in the culture centre at the time along with 50 others, when an individual poured petrol over the doors and windows, but fled without lighting it. Koçak reported the incident to the authorities and announced it on X, formerly Twitter. Nav-Berlin’s management committee believes it to have been the work of Turkish nationalists.
