Kurds residing in Cyprus held a march on Thursday at 5.30 pm from Faneromeni Square via Ledra Street to Eleftherias Square and from there to the Central Prison – AKEL was also present. The demand is for the release of Kenan Ayas, who is being held in the Central Prison for his alleged involvement in a terrorist attack. Ayaz was arrested at Larnaca Airport on 15 March 2023 on a warrant from Germany while on his way to visit his family in Sweden.
Kenan Ayas began an indefinite hunger strike in prison on Thursday, demanding that he not be extradited to Germany and be released. Ayas is currently in a solitary confinement cell.
In a statement to CYPE, the representative of the Kurdistan Cultural Centre “Theophilus”, Lambros Kallenos, said that the Cypriot authorities are being asked to release Ayas. “In Germany, there is a risk that he will be extradited to Turkey, where his life will be in danger and he will be sentenced to a long prison term,” he said.
He said that Kenan, he said, should be released because he is not a terrorist. “The fighter Kenan, as a democratic freedom fighter, did not commit terrorist acts, but made speeches and seminars on the Kurdish issue. He is not a terrorist, and he should not be extradited to Germany,” he added.