The German judiciary claims that conditions in Turkey are “good” and that there is “no risk of arrest” to the Kurdish family, who had to flee to Germany because of persecution they faced when they were living in Turkey.
In April 2017, Büşra Zan, a Kurdish woman who lived in the province of Antep in Turkey, came to Germany with her three children and applied for asylum because of persecution the family had faced in Turkey.
However, Germany’s Federal Migrant Administration (BAMF) has rejected the asylum request of Büşra Zan and her three children, stating that conditions in Turkey are “good” and that there is no risk to the family of arrest. The Zan family appealed the decision and took it to the Nuremberg Administrative Court, where they again received a pro-Turkey decision, Yeni Ozgur Politika reports.
In 2015, one of Büşra Zan’s sons, Eser, joined the struggle against ISIS when the Kurdish canton Kobanê was under siege. As the Kobanê resistance began, a human chain was formed in the Suruç district of Urfa (Riha) to show their solidarity with the Kurdish fighters fighting against ISIS. Büşra Zan was one of those who joined the human chain in Suruç. However, defending Kobanê was a crime in Turkey’s eyes, and she was detained for her participation. She was later released, but the threats and persecution continued. In 2015 she went to Rojava to see her son, but on her return to Turkey through the border she was once again detained, this time for allegedly being a “suicide bomber”. Her beloved son Eser lost his life while fighting against ISIS the same year.
The state’s persecution of the Kurdish family did not stop. The family house was raided by the police six times. Another of Büşra’s sons, Mansur, has been behind bars as a political prisoner since 2015. Yet another son, Ahmet, was detained, and released after one year of imprisonment, but a warrant has been issued against him for his rearrest and detention.
After losing one son, and two more sons being arrested, Büşra Zan decided to leave the country with her three other children Bünyamin, Musa, and Zilan. She came to Germany and applied for asylum in Munich.
The beginning of the new life was not so bright for the Zan family, as Germany rejected Bünyamin’s asylum request and sent him back to Turkey when the young Kurdish boy turned 18 last year. The reason given for the rejection was that he would not be arrested in Turkey. However, when Bünyamin was deported to Turkey, he was indeed arrested. After a year in prison, Bünyamin was released, but was subjected to “judicial control”. Now he has to go and sign on at the police station two days a week.
Büşra’s next son, Musa, who turned 18 two weeks ago on 12 August, now faces the same danger. His asylum file was separated from that of his mother, and a decision to return also made in his case. Musa Zan is now in danger of being returned to Turkey at any moment.
His mother Büşra Zan has already been detained in Turkey for being Kurdish, for participating in the Kobanê demonstrations, and for being a member of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP). It is highly possible that she will be arrested in Turkey if she is returned there. However the German judiciary says to her, “Turkey is good and you can live there.” The Zan family is now awaiting a verdict in the case they have taken to the supreme court.
