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The chairman of the Kurdish community in Germany, Ali Ertan Toprak, at a New Year's reception in Lower Saxony (2018)
Photo: Gregor Fischer / picture alliance / Gregor Fischer / dpa
The commemoration event for the earthquake victims this Monday evening in front of the Brandenburg Gate caused great resentment within the Kurdish community in Germany.
Among others, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (SPD) will give a speech to commemorate the tens of thousands of dead in Turkey and Syria.
The organizers of the funeral service are the Turkish Community in Germany (TGD) and the Association of German-Syrian Aid Associations, who invited Steinmeier.
The Kurdish officials would have liked to take part, but according to their own account, they were left out.
"Even though we are pleased that you will send an important signal with your participation, we are not only disappointed by the exclusion we experience from the organizers, but feel this deeply hurtful," writes Başar Cahit, the Secretary General of the Kurdish community in Germany, in a letter to Steinmeier.
»It gives food for thought that we, as those affected and despite the victims, are not allowed to speak, but only stand by.«
"Concern about social cohesion"
If even natural disasters "do not help to overcome anti-Kurdish racism, then we have legitimate concerns about social cohesion in our country," the letter also says.
The Turkish community vehemently rejects the accusation of racism.
A spokesman said that an Alevi of Kurdish origin would also be on the podium.
Since the event was scheduled at short notice and there were a large number of inquiries, it was decided "to hold the commemorative event together with associations with whom we have often worked".
The aim was to keep the voting process as short as possible.
Ali Ertan Toprak, chairman of the Kurdish community in Germany, is still annoyed.
"In view of the earthquake disaster, it would have been a very good time to come together and send a joint sign of solidarity," he says.
"This opportunity was missed." In recent years, tensions between Kurds and Turks have repeatedly arisen in Germany, too.
Steinmeier's spokesman pointed out that the Federal President was only invited to the event tonight as a guest.
In his speech, "the particular dismay of the various ethnic groups, including the Kurds, is expressed." The focus is on "the hardship and immeasurable suffering of all affected people in the ethnically and religiously diverse region."