The debate surrounding Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s announced state visit to Berlin on Friday continues. The Democratic Kurdistan Society Congress in Europe (KCDK-E) released a statement calling on the German government to withdraw the invitation and not to receive the dictator and war criminal as a state guest.

The KCDK-E statement said: “The bloody dictator Erdoğan supports every form of terror in the Middle East, suppresses the opposition in Turkey, commits massacres in Kurdistan and is coming to Germany on 17 November. Erdogan is a war criminal who is occupying Kurdistan with his army, bombing Kurds and realising bloody plans in the Middle East. Germany, one of the most important countries of European democracy, is setting an example by receiving this murderer before the big protest march against the PKK ban in Berlin. If the German state is truly committed to human rights, democracy and universal values, it should take a clear stand and not invite the dictator Erdoğan. Erdoğan cannot be a normal state guest in Germany because he is a war criminal.”

The KCDK-E said it does not consider it a coincidence that the Turkish president’s visit is taking place one day before the planned long-term demonstration “Lift the PKK ban, strengthen democracy” in Berlin. “Rather, the overlap in timing points to new dirty deals between the German government and Turkey. Olaf Scholz wants to discuss ‘all political issues’ that affect both countries with the dictator Erdoğan, who has been invited to a dinner at the Federal Chancellery. They will no doubt also discuss the war in the Middle East, migration control, the future of the EU-Turkey agreement, NATO cooperation and dirty plans against the Kurdish people.”

Referring to the broad criticism of the visit and announced protests, KCDK-E stated: “As Kurds, we condemn this visit, which coincides with the central demonstration against the PKK ban on 18 November in Berlin, and we call on the German state to immediately abandon this attitude and cancel the invitation. We call on our people and all those who stand for humanity to mobilise for a massive protest march in Berlin on 18 November to give an appropriate response to the dictator Erdoğan and the German government that invited him.”