The German prosecutor has recommended a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Kurdish political activist Kenan Ayaz, according to a statement from his lawyers.
Ayaz will respond to the charges on 9, 11, and 17 July, with the sentence expected to be handed down on 22 July.
Ayaz’s defence team comprises Cypriot lawyer Eustathios K. Eustathiou, and German lawyers Antonia von der Behrens and Stefan Kuhn.
Ayaz was arrested by Cypriot police on 15 March 2023 and deported to Germany on 4 June 2023 on terrorism charges. German authorities have indicated that if sentenced, Ayaz will serve his term in Cyprus.
As the trial before the Hamburg Higher Regional Court nears its conclusion, Ayaz’s defence lawyers have called for his acquittal, while the federal prosecutor has sought a prison sentence. Ayaz is expected to make a detailed statement on 9 July.
During the trial, lawyer Efstathios Efstathiou highlighted the parallels between the Kurdish and Cypriot experiences of violence and occupation by Turkey, recounting the persecution faced by Ayaz.
“Kenan Ayaz learned early that pro-Kurdish sentiments are relentlessly persecuted in Turkey, with political activists facing torture, mistreatment, and imprisonment,” he said.
Efstathiou said that Ayaz, at a young age, witnessed the torture of his brother and experienced torture himself. While others were building their lives, Ayaz was imprisoned and exposed to the harsh methods used by the Turkish state against Kurds, he added.
“He witnessed the Turkish state’s attempts to crush Kurdish hopes for a dignified, self-determined life with equal rights,” Eustathiou added.
He criticised the court and prosecution for equating fundamental human rights with terrorist acts.
“If every act of an alleged PKK member is labelled terrorism, what do you make of real terrorism, which aims to spread fear and terror? Why are the harsh and illegal actions of the Turkish military not characterised as terrorism?” he asked.
Efstathiou argued that this German perspective does not convince the Cypriot people, who view the Kurdish struggle as an armed conflict and a fight of the oppressed against an oppressive regime.
The additional trial dates are 9, 11, 17, 22, and 29 July, as well as 19 August.
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