PKK ramps up crimes against Turks in Germany: Report

By Abdullah Asiran

THE HAGUE (AA) - The European police authority announced Thursday that the PKK terrorists have ramped up crimes against Turkish facilities in Germany.

“In Germany, there was a significant rise in the number of offences against Turkish facilities (associations, mosques, shops etc.),” Europol said in the Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2019 released on its website.

The report pointed out that the attacks in Germany were carried out “as an act of vengeance” for Turkey’s anti-terror operation in Afrin, Syria and highlighted the solidarity between the left-wing and the PKK terror group.

Also touching on funding of the terrorists, it added: “Terrorists continued using non-profit organizations to raise funds for terrorist purposes from Muslim communities.”

It also added that PKK terrorists and their supporters collect money in Europe from membership fees, the sale of publications and annual fundraising campaigns.

“Belgium reports the sentencing in 2018 of four individuals for participating in a ‘Kampanya’ (fundraising campaign),” it said.

The PKK also provides “logistical and financial support” to its offshoot in Syria, according to the report.

It also noted that the PKK members were involved in organized crimes, drug smuggling and trade, migrant trafficking and money laundering.

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including many women and children.

*Writing by Sena Guler