6th January, 2024

Meeting of the Observatory on Kenan Ayas with the German Ambassador

On Thursday 4 January, representatives of the Observatory for the Kurdish fighter Kenan Ayas had a meeting with the German Ambassador to Cyprus. The following statement is issued regarding the meeting:

STATEMENT BY THE KENAN AYAZ WATCH

AKEL’s press spokesman and MP, George Koukumas and the President of the Ecologists’ Movement – Citizens’ Co-operation, George Perdikis had a meeting with the German Ambassador to Cyprus, Anke Slim, yesterday, Thursday 4 January 2024, on the ongoing trial of Kurdish militant Kenan Ayaz in Hamburg, Germany.

During the meeting, C. Koukumas and G. Perdikis underlined to the German Ambassador the interest of the Cypriot public opinion and many organized associations in our country in the development of the case of the Kurdish fighter Kenan Ayaz and conveyed the strong feeling of solidarity of the great majority of the Cypriot people towards the Kurdish struggle.

They also raised the issue of the conditions set by the Cypriot Justice to Germany, i.e. in case of a conviction of Mr. Ayaz not to be extradited to Turkey and to serve his sentence in Cyprus, noting that these conditions must be respected.

At the meeting, the recent incident of the theft of a computer of one of the members of Kenan Ayaz’s team of Cypriot lawyers during their stay in Germany was also raised.

For her part, the German Ambassador limited herself to the position that the issue is a matter for the German Justice and insisted that the German government has no involvement in the matter.

The meeting was initiated by the Kenan Ayaz Observatory, which consists of MPs, party representatives, journalists and activists who continue to inform public opinion and solidarity actions towards the Kurdish fighter who was extradited to Germany by the Cypriot authorities to face trial on terrorism charges.