In early August, left-wing MP Akbulut was detained for several hours as she entered Turkey. After ARD-Information was social media postings from 2019 – for the Turkish authorities “terrorist propaganda”.
For years, the left-wing member of the Bundestag Gökay Akbulut has been campaigning for the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK, which is banned in Germany and is considered terrorist, and for the Kurds. In this context, she sharply criticized the Turkish military offensive in northern Syria in 2019 – at that time the Turkish army attacked the Syrian Democratic Forces there, which were dominated by Kurdish militias.
At the beginning of August, the left-wing MP was detained for several hours when she entered Turkey – the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ) was the first to report about it. The arrest warrant was based on information from ARD Capital Studios with the accusation of “terror propaganda” – because Akbulut had criticized the military offensive in northern Syria in the social media. According to her office, the posts were published via the left-wing politician’s official account – so it was always clear that Akbulut was a member of the German Bundestag.
detained for hours
Akbulut’s office describes the course of events as follows: The left-wing politician entered Turkey between 4 and 5 p.m. on August 3, was detained directly at Antalya airport and taken away in a police car. She was only released later in the evening – around 9:30 p.m. Akbulut left for Greece the next day – she is currently still there and is expected back in Germany on Tuesday.
pressure of federal government
As the FAZ reports, Akbulut was detained even after she had already identified herself as a German member of the Bundestag. The fact that Akbulut was released quickly is probably also due to pressure from Germany. As the newspaper further reports, the federal government took action “at a high level, with emphasis and through various channels” after being informed of the arrest. She obtained Akbulut’s immediate release. The Turkish Minister of Justice is also said to have been involved.
Akbulut herself wrote on the Twitter successor X that her file was deleted within a few hours. She thanked the Foreign Office for the quick action. The incident shows that there is no separation of powers in Turkey.
Since 2017 member of parliament
Akbulut has been a member of the Bundestag for the Left Party for the constituency of Mannheim since 2017. In the past, the Turkish-born politician had repeatedly campaigned for the ban on activities against the PKK in Germany to be lifted.
Since 1993, activities of the PKK and its sub-organizations have been banned in Germany. In Turkey, Europe and the USA, the PKK is considered a terrorist organization. The PKK and the Turkish government have been fighting each other for decades. At least 40,000 people lost their lives.