Hamburg. The conference titled “We want our World back!) was planned to be held in the Audimax hall of Hamburg University between 7-9 April 2023. With the initiative of “Germany’s Internal Intelligence Service, the Organization for the Protection of the Constitution”, whose short name is BND, the Rector of Hamburg University Prof. 1,300 attendees were expected for the event, which was canceled by Hauke Heekeren. The PKK, which has been banned in Germany since 1993, was cited as the reason for the cancellation decision, which was criticized as ‘political censorship’ by the University Student Association AstA. Germany, the European Union and the United States recognize the PKK as a terrorist organization by law.
According to the news of Avrupa Posta, the cancellation of the conferences titled “Capitalist Modernity”, which took place in other campuses of the same university in 2012, 2015 and 2017, this year on the grounds of the PKK, is considered “forbidden” in Kurdish circles. was also widely criticized.
“A clear attack on intellectual and academic freedom”
On the other hand, it was noteworthy that more than a hundred scientists, professors and academicians signed a statement by the Hamburg University Student Association (AStA) that criticized the cancellation decision as “political censorship”. The University Student Association (AStA), which issued a press release on the subject, described the cancellation decision as an attack on the autonomy of the university student committee, freedom of thought and academic freedom. In the statement, the Rector of the University of Hamburg Prof. Heekeren was also called to change the annulment decision.
The Left Party, which has a group in the Hamburg State Assembly, made a similar attempt. Group Co-Chairs of the Left Party, Cansu Özdemir and Sabine Boeddinghaus, appealed to the Rector of Hamburg University, for the annulment of the ban decision. Dr. He sent a letter to Heekeren.
Expressing that they are very worried about the cancellation decision, Özdemir and Boeddinghaus drew attention to the importance of the conference with wide participation for the scientific world. Dr. He made the following call to Heekeren: “We request you to retract your decision shortly before the conference and to contact us to find a solution.”
Alternative Seeking Network: „The conference will definitely take place!“
Despite the ban decision of the University of Hamburg “Challenging Capitalist Modernity” The fourth in the series of conferences held under the title “We Want Our World Back” It was learned that the event will be held on the planned dates. the organization of the conference „Network for an Alternative Quest“ will be undertaken by the association named “The conference will start on Friday, April 7, in the hall of the institution „Bürgerhaus Wilhelmsburg“.“ appeared with the message.