Removal of YPG posters in Bundestag prior to Erdoğan visit 'unconstitutional,' top German court rules

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Germany's Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that it was unconstitutional for police to remove posters of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) that Left Party deputy Michel Brandt hung in his office prior to a visit to the Bundestag by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in 2018.

The Turkish government considers the YPG to be the Syrian branch of Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), which is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.

Brandt hung posters of the YPG's flag and the flag of Kurdistan during Erdoğan's visit on September 29, 2018, which were subsequently removed by police at the orders of the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schauble of the center-right Christian Democratic Union Party (CDU).

Brandt filed a complaint against Schauble, who for his part stated that he made the decision on the basis that the posters agitated Erdoğan's supporters.

Brandt argued in his complaint that the roads were closed due to Erdoğan's visit and that nobody was going to see the posters anyway. The court ruled in favor of Brandt, determining that his rights as a parliamentarian had been infringed upon.

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