BERLIN
The German government opposed a proposal on Thursday by the opposition Left Party to lift a ban on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat bloc defended the ban, which has been effective since 1993, at a debate initiated by the Left Party at the Federal Parliament.
“The PKK has not changed its ideology and agenda which is against international understanding,” Christian Democrat lawmaker Clemens Binninger said.
The PKK has fought for an independent Kurdish state since 1984, and its terrorist attacks claimed almost 36,000 lives in Turkey. Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union list PKK as a terrorist organization.
Germany, which is home to around 700,000 Kurdish immigrants, outlawed the PKK in 1993, following violent protests by its members.
Binninger said that since 2004, German courts have convicted more than 4,500 PKK suspects for various crimes, which he argued showed the need for the ban.
According to reports by the German domestic intelligence agency, BfV, the PKK has 13,000 adherents in the country. It is believed to use various associations for fundraising and recruiting new members.
Merkel’s coalition partner, the Social Democrats, and the opposition Green Party also defended the ban during the parliamentary debate on Thursday.
The opposition Left Party proposed lifting the ban on PKK, and demanded an amnesty for convicted PKK members, arguing that the group has acknowledged democratic struggle and also become an important actor with its fight against Daesh, the Arabic acronym for ISIL, in Syria and Iraq.
The Left Party has 64 seats in the 631-member German parliament. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative-left coalition government enjoys an overwhelming majority in the parliament.
