The Turkish president faced protests from feminist, civil society groups and Kurdish community groups during his visit to Berlin starting on Sunday the 19th of January. Erdoğan’s visit is part of a conference on the on-going Libyan civil war which the Turkish state has been criticised for intervening in.
A coalition of groups and activists including antifascists called for a rally outside the federal assembly to protest Erdoğan’s presence and the German state’s failure to condemn his regime.
The rally was well attended with speeches from several figures including: Nujiyan Günay, co-chair of the Berlin Free Kurdistan Community, Die Linke MP Hakan Tas Berlin PYD representative Süleyman Haco and Yazidi Women Movement member Nure Alkış. The speakers called on the German government to hold the Turkish state accountable for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Protesters carried out civil disobedience to protest the Turkish regime but some were met with violence from the Turkish president’s bodyguards. Including one woman who was later detained by German police despite facing physical attacks from the bodyguards.