The ongoing peace process aimed at ending Turkey’s decades-long conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) did not eliminate the risk of torture for a Kurdish asylum seeker, a German court has found, leading German authorities to withdraw their decision lifting a ban on his deportation.
According to the Bianet news website, the case concerns 74-year-old Şemsettin A., who fled Turkey for Germany in 1992 after being accused of membership in the PKK and involvement in six murders, at a time when he faced the possibility of the death penalty in Turkey.
Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in early 2026 lifted a deportation ban that had been in place since 2007, citing the PKK’s decision in May 2025 to disband, subsequent steps toward the laying down of arms and developments in the peace process in Turkey. Şemsettin A. challenged the decision at the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 but said in May 2025 it would disband and end its armed campaign.
The Turkish Parliament in August 2025 established a special parliamentary commission to oversee the peace efforts. Draft legislation introduced following the commission’s deliberations was passed by parliament and submitted to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on August 11 for approval.
Focusing on whether the risk of torture in Turkey had been substantially and permanently reduced, the court found that recent developments in Turkey were insufficient to reach such a conclusion, saying the process was still at an early stage and that its future course remained uncertain.
The court also raised concerns about Turkey’s human rights record, particularly regarding people accused of terrorism-related offenses and said it could not be assumed that Şemsettin A. would receive a fair trial in accordance with rule-of-law standards if returned.
Following the court’s assessment that the risk of torture had not been shown to have substantially and permanently diminished, BAMF withdrew its decision lifting the deportation ban before a judgment was issued. The proceedings were subsequently closed without a ruling on the merits.
