German police batter Turkish man for anti-PKK protest

By Mesut Zeyrek

SOLINGEN, Germany (AA) - A Turkish man who attended the commemoration event for the victims of the 1993 racist arson attack in Germany said he was beaten up by police on his way home.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency about the violence he suffered at the hands of German police, 44-year-old Hakan Canik said he would file a complaint.

Canik said he went to the event held in Solingen city to stage a protest against terrorist PKK supporters, but was battered by police on his way home.

"I protested against the terror supporters because they were holding banned posters of Abdullah Ocalan and PKK. I told that to German police but they told me leave rudely," said Canik, whose clothes were torn and his watch and cell phone were shattered during the battering.

"I was about to leave when suddenly a police officer pushed me and held me on the ground," said Canik.

"They tied my hands behind my back. I told them I could not breathe because I have asthma but they mocked me instead."

Canik said he would file a complaint and not let this incident go unnoticed.

Turkey on Monday remembered the victims of the racist arson attack in Germany that left five members of a Turkish family dead.

On May 29, 1993, four people aged 16 to 23 set ablaze the house of a Turkish family in the German city of Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, killing five people and injuring 14 others.

Three of the assailants were sentenced to 10 years in jail, while the others got 15 years.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attended a ceremony Tuesday marking the 25th anniversary of the attack.

The PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years, killing nearly 40,000 people.

Germany outlawed the PKK terror group in 1993, following violent protests carried out by group members in the country.

In March this year, Germany’s federal Interior Ministry updated its list of prohibited symbols used by the PKK, and also included posters of Abdullah Ocalan, PKK’s jailed head, to this list.