Pressure is growing on left-wing MP Ferat Koçak because of clan contacts

After new revelations about his contacts with the Berlin Rammo clan, the left-wing Bundestag member Ferat Koçak is coming under further pressure. According to a report by the Berlin "Tagesspiegel", the handover of a smartphone donated by the Rammo clan was in connection with earlier investigations into escalations in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin.

Koçak previously admitted to collecting used cell phones for activists earlier this year. The reason he gave was that the police had confiscated cell phones from young people from left-wing backgrounds. That's why he asked for smartphone donations via Instagram, the Neukölln politician claimed. According to him, dozens of people then came forward, including members of the Remmo family. He claimed that a device handed over by clan leader Issa Rammo was later passed on to activists.

As the “Tagesspiegel” reported, citing security circles, the Berlin police had confiscated several cell phones from young people at that time. The background was investigations following violent pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The people from the left-wing radical scene used their cell phones to document, among other things, suspected crimes at meetings. The devices were therefore confiscated as possible evidence.

Koçak had already tried to deal with the affair surrounding a video call from Firas Rammo at a meeting with journalists in a new public statement on Friday. In it he emphasized that he initially did not know who was behind Firas Rammo's account. It was only when the cell phones were handed over that he realized that clan leader Issa Rammo was also there. Looking back, Koçak spoke of an oversight and a mistake. As a consequence, he gave up his seat on the Bundestag's Interior Committee, but retained his mandate.

The affair raises additional questions because, according to Koçak, he remained in contact with Firas Rammo even after the meeting and asked him to distribute a video of his Bundestag speech. In addition, the left-wing politician recently came under criticism for a photo with the Palestine activist Ibrahim Ibrahim, who the security authorities attributed to the terrorist organization PFLP. Koçak explained that he did not recognize Ibrahim at that moment.