Five former Presidents of the PEN Center Germany have called for the resignation of the incumbent President Deniz Yücel.
In a letter to Yücel, which is available to the German Press Agency, they justify this by saying that at the opening event of the Lit.Cologne literature festival last Tuesday evening, Yücel spoke out in favor of a no-fly zone in Ukraine and thus for direct military intervention by NATO . The five former presidents are Gert Heidenreich, Christoph Hein, Johano Strasser, Josef Haslinger and Regula Venske.
“It’s not about your private opinion,” they wrote to Yücel. At the event in Cologne, he clearly spoke as President of PEN and was also invited as such. With his statements he had exceeded his powers and violated the charter of the international PEN, which obliges the members “to work with utmost force… for the ideal of… a humanity living in peace”. Yücel’s statements, on the other hand, amounted to “that one could risk making NATO a direct participant in the war in the Ukraine, then one would see how far Putin dared.”
At the event in Cologne, moderator Susanne Beyer asked Yücel: “Should the airspace over Ukraine be closed?” To which he replied: “Would be a good idea, wouldn’t it?” Otherwise there is a risk of Kyiv being bombed by the Russian armed forces. “It’s not because the Ukrainians are so keen on including us all in this war,” said Yücel.
He is surprised that so many people think they know how Putin would react if NATO opened up other sides. He knows the following from the schoolyard: “If I hit Sasha in the face because I just feel stronger (…) and then Navid comes – he’s two heads taller than me – and says: “Leave my buddy alone, Yes? Otherwise you’ll have to deal with me!” Then I can think. Of course he has to take the risk that I’m a little crazy and stab him with a jackknife somewhere. But I have to think: “He’s two heads taller than me and twice so broad – am I really going into this with him?” I don’t know how Putin would react to that.”
Yücel did not want to comment on the request. On Twitter, he referred to a report by Deutschlandfunk, according to which he had rejected the request for his resignation. According to Deutschlandfunk, Yücel takes the position that he did speak in accordance with the PEN Charter. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” also reported on the demands for his resignation. (dpa)