German-Kurdish MP Gökay Akbulut briefly detained in Turkey

Gökay Akbulut, a German-Kurdish MP and member of the Left Party (Die Linke), has been temporarily detained in Turkey. Akbulut was arrested at the airport as she entered Turkey on the basis of an arrest warrant issued against her. She was released after the German government intervened.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper had published an article about the arrest, which took place in Antalya on 3 August. The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said it was aware of the incident. The German embassy in Ankara and consulate in Antalya were in close contact with the MP. After being informed of her arrest, the German government intervened to secure her safe release.

Akbulut was reportedly brought before a judge and detained even after identifying herself as a German MP, and was released within hours of her arrest, according to the FAZ. She expressed her gratitude to the Foreign Ministry for its efforts and added: “The incident has shown once again that there is no separation of powers in Turkey. “Don’t worry: I will not be intimidated by the arrest warrant.” The MP also said that she found out about the warrant at the airport and that the file had been deleted a few hours before she was due to testify about it. Akbulut posted on X (formerly Twitter) that she had been charged with “terror propaganda” due to social media posts from 2019. At the time, she had received several death threats from Kayseri, where the warrant had also been issued.

Akbulut has since left Turkey. The Kurdish politician wrote on X that she had cut short visits to her family after her arrest. However, she will return to Turkey in October as part of a delegation from the German-Turkish parliamentary group. “And as always, I will not mince my words,” Akbulut added, referring to the hashtag #FreeThemAll.

Akbulut has been a member of the Bundestag since 2017, and her constituency is Mannheim. She criticizes the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has spoken out against Turkey’s attacks in Kurdish areas and has called for an arms embargo against Ankara. Akbulut also calls for the recognition of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).