The German-Kurdish Lawyers Association (DKJV) held its founding ceremony at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. Around 300 guests from Germany and Switzerland attended the presentation and speeches given by the association. The association aims to promote cooperation between the judiciary in Germany and Europe and the legal institutions in the predominantly Kurdish-populated regions of the Middle East.
The Kurds are the largest people in the world without their own state. One million Kurds from Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria live in Germany. Political persecution forced them to leave their home regions. They are now living in Germany in the second and third generations. Their Kurdish heritage is important to them, but at the same time they see themselves as Germans and Europeans and want to stay in Germany permanently. In the regions of the Middle East ravaged by violence and conflict, the Kurds have proven that they are reliable partners for democracy, minority rights, religious freedom, and gender equality, according to the association.
Kahraman Evsen, chairman of the association, stated in his welcome address:
“The concerns of migrants, especially the Kurdish community in Germany, are important to us. For this reason, we want to make professional contributions to German and European asylum and immigration law and help shape the immigration debate. Against this background, the German-Kurdish Lawyers’ Association e.V. wants to act as a mediator between representatives of German and European society and the Kurds in Germany, Europe, and Kurdistan. They want to contribute to the success of integration in Germany and the strengthening of institutional structures in Kurdistan.”
As guest of honor, Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, President of the International Council of the International Society for Human Rights, gave the keynote speech on “The Kurds – the largest people without their own statehood.” Schirrmacher said:
“Under international law according to UN standards, every people has the right to self-determination. Not necessarily to their own state, but to self-determination. It is international law and human rights that a people such as the Kurds in all countries where they live in large numbers may and must have a say in their own future. Even the establishment of today’s autonomous region in Iraq was not decided by the Kurds themselves, but by the US. Yet the Kurds in Iraq and Turkey have proven time and again that they are capable of governing in a democratic community, often more so than other forces in the same states.”
Schirrmacher reported that in 1985, due to the publication of “Kurdish Grammar” and other works on the Kurdish languages and by Kurdish authors in his publishing house “Culture and Science Publishing” (VKW), he was banned from entering Turkey for many years as a result of a press campaign against him there.
Thomas Schirrmacher
Many renowned guests participated in the subsequent panel discussion and question-and-answer session. Among them were Seyran Ates, a lawyer and women’s rights activist who has been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, Jian Badrakhan from YASA – Kurdish Centre for Studies & Legal Consultancy e.V., Cahit Tolan, a lawyer and human rights activist, and Ferhat Akman, who organizes aid transports to Iraq and cares for Yazidi refugees.
Between the program segments, there were several musical performances by a Cologne-based music group and video messages from politicians, including Claudia Roth, Member of the German Bundestag, Vice President of the German Bundestag (Alliance 90/The Greens), Bodo Ramelow, Minister President of the Free State of Thuringia (The Left Party), Cem Özdemir, Member of the German Bundestag, Federal Chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens, Julia Klöckner, Deputy Federal Chairwoman of the CDU and Chairwoman of the CDU Rhineland-Palatinate, and Dietmar Nitan, Member of the German Bundestag, Chairman of the SPD’s Turkey Coordination Group.
Based largely on a report by Andreas Scheffel: Central Council of Oriental Christians in Germany
Downloads and Links
- Flyer for the founding ceremony (PNG)
- Announcement
- Statement by the DKJV
- Polla Garmiany. „Kurdish lawyers in Germany aim to bolster lobbying power of Kurds“
- Broadcast by the Kurdish television station NRT on 8 July 2015 featuring an interview with Thomas Schirrmacher (YouTube)
- Broadcast by the Kurdish television station OrientNews on 30 July 2015 featuring an interview with Thomas Schirrmacher (YouTube)