“Assimilation is a crime against humanity” 


Democratic societies should not ignore Turkey’s double standards and should protest against the assimilation of Kurdish culture. 

Despite the fact that Kurdish culture and that of other ethnic minorities in Turkey has been continuously suppressed, the 60th Frankfurt Book Fair with some 2,700 cultural events started today with Turkey as this year’s guest country.

The International Cultural Foundation Şivan Perwer, headquartered in Bonn, criticises the double standards of Turkish state policy regarding tolerance and freedom against minority cultures in Turkey. Critical writers, artists and intellectuals and all those who oppose the nationalist assimilation policy are constantly prosecuted and there is no freedom of expression. The Turkish Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, is strictly against the assimilation of the Turkish minority in Germany while the legitimate cultural demands of the Kurds in his country are ignored and there no serious changes have been introduced for the protection of cultural diversity in his own country. 


With regard to this cultural diversity, Mr. Şivan Perwer, the chairman of the International Kurdish Cultural Foundation and the Kurdish cultural ambassador in exile declares in Frankfurt: “The Turkish government systematically prevents the development of Kurdish culture. The assimilation policy of Turkey against Kurds and other ethnic minorities, which systematically employs brutal methods, has been ongoing since the founding of the Turkish Republic. The teaching of the Kurdish language to Kurdish children remains banned and critical Kurdish writers from Turkey are still obliged to live in exile. Kurdish newspapers are constantly being banned and publishers persecuted. A democratic society cannot ignore these facts. As Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said in Cologne, assimilation is a crime against humanity, which should be tolerated nowhere.” 


We call on the international community to address Turkish assimilation policies with a critical mind. This significant cultural event in Frankfurt on Main, which this year focuses on Turkey, offers the perfect occasion for encouraging this country to finally recognise and embrace its cultural diversity.

International Cultural Foundation Şivan Perwer