By Mary Merkenich
BOCHUM — A thousand people on April 23 took to the streets here, in the heart of Germany's Ruhr Valley. The demonstrators demanded no deportations of Kurds, an end to the criminalisation of Kurds by the Bonn government, revocation of the banning of Kurdish organisations, a stop to military aid to Turkey and self-determination for the Kurdish people.
The demonstration was peaceful, in stark contrast to recent protest actions by Kurds, where the police provoked participants to the point of desperation, culminating in the self-incineration of two young Kurdish women.
After wining and dining the Turkish prime minister, Tansu Ciller, recently and continuing to send weapons to Turkey, which are used to annihilate Kurdish villages, the German government banned the PKK (the political party of Kurdistan) and all other Kurdish organisations, including cultural clubs. The mere possession of the PKK flag in public is an offence.
At the end of March, Kurdish groups organised festivals and celebrations commemorating their new year. Halls were booked and received official approval. In a cynical last-minute move, these approvals were withdrawn, and police were instructed to halt buses on their way to the celebrations.
The buses were stopped and the Kurdish passengers forced to remain inside for hours, so that children and adults had to urinate in their clothes. In response, the Kurds got off the buses and blockaded the autobahns. That evening radio and TV reported that Kurdish "extremists" had taken over the atutobahns, attacked police, used their children as defensive walls and burned themselves.
"Kurdish terror" had arrived in Germany. The government immediately announced harsh measures. The Kurds would be deported back to Turkey, regardless of refugee status and the torture and death awaiting them there.
The Bavarian government began the deportations — its way of diverting attention from never-ending corruption scandals rocking the reigning Christian Socialist Union (CSU).
One of the Bonn government's motives is similar. In the "super election year" (1994 has local, state, federal and European elections in Germany), this is a manoeuvre to divert attention from the rising unpopularity of the federal conservative government.
The social democratic opposition party, the SPD, which is likely to make big gains in the federal elections, supported the reactionary propaganda and the resulting racist climate. Sharping, the SPD leader, agreed that "violent" Kurds had either to behave themselves or face expulsion.
The Greens had contradictory positions. Some of the more progressive groups,like the Bochum Greens, opposed the witch-hunt. Others, where they held governmental positions, worked hand in glove with the conservative forces.
Since the autobahn fiasco, nearly all Kurdish demonstrations have been forbidden. More than 1000 Kurdish women and children were, however, able to demonstrate peacefully on April 23 in Dusseldorf.
The Bochum demonstration was organised by a coalition of progressive and left-wing organisations called together by the local Party of Democratic Socialism branch. This coalition included the Bochum Greens, Amnesty International, the German Communist Party, the Bochum Student Union and anti-fascist groups. The organisers were very pleased with the response, especially from Germans, who made up at least a good third of the demonstration.n