We heard about the police raid in the Independent Youth Centre of Hannover (Unabhängiges Jugendzentrum Kornstraße) which happened last Thursday. Around this centre a lot of political, social and cultural activities have being developed by many activists and collectives, among which Interventionistische Linke. We also heard that the motivation for this raid was legitimated by the support of some collectives for the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), for this one is internationally considered a terroristic association.
First of all, we have to condemn any attempt to keep on criminalising the PKK: it’s just one way to acknowledge Erdogan internal war against Kurdish people (and not only those who belong to PKK) as if it were truly for security reasons, while it is a tool to repress political opposition. Moreover, European countries and press show their hypocrite face when they praise the intervention of police and army against Kurds living in Europe and, at the same time, stand for the resistance of Kobane – even supporting it from a military point of view. The PKK is one of the actor of the resistance of Kobane against the inhumanity and fascism of Daesh, as well as they have created solution to a situation of war and economic deprivation. On Monday the City Hall of Naples gave the honorary citizenship to Ocalan, recognising that he’s not a terrorist and that it’s time for his liberation and the de-criminalisation of the PKK. We can’t accept to see it as a terrorist organisation anymore.
Besides, we are well aware that this kind of police operation have hardly never anything to do with the excuse they use, since the centre was a base especially for German collectives. It sounds to us as a political device to hit and to scare an active point of organisation of struggles, especially the ones concerning the solidarity with Kurdish resistance and migrants. Old methods for old intentions. But they should know that they cannot stop the starting point of a Commune, another kind of existence and politics that we build up day after day in our cities in Europe. As part of the Commune of Europe, we express our solidarity to the activists who were subjected to these authoritarian actions and we state once again what we are convinced of most: we will always create networks, relationships, struggles against this imposed present all over Europe. For this we remember to Hannover’s authorities: “You would like to stop the wind, but you are just wasting our time”.
Together in solidarity,
North-East of Italy Social Centers.