German politician fined for posting PKK symbol

A German court on Monday fined a local politician for posting a symbol of the PKK on social media. A Hamburg court ordered Left Party lawmaker Cansu Özdemir to donate €1,000 ($1,100) to a charity for violating the ban on using the symbols of the PKK, which has been banned in Germany since 1993.


Anadolu Agency

A German court on Oct. 28 fined a local politician for posting a symbol of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

A Hamburg court ordered Left Party lawmaker Cansu Özdemir to donate €1,000 ($1,100) to a charity for violating the ban on using the symbols of the PKK, which has been banned in Germany since 1993. 

Özdemir had called for an end to the ban on the PKK, and shared the banned symbol of the PKK, in a Twitter post in 2017. 

Germany outlawed the PKK in 1993, following violent protests carried out by group members in the country. But the group remains active, with nearly 14,500 followers among the Kurdish immigrant population in the country.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.