Terrorist PKK supporters use poison to attack Swiss-Turkish businessman's factory

By Bayram Altug

GENEVA (AA) – Supporters of the terrorist PKK used poisonous chemicals to attack a factory in northwestern Switzerland owned by a Swiss-Turkish businessman, the owner told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.

After reaching the Gurbet factory, which makes Turkish doner meat products, in the town of Dulliken in Olten, the PKK supporters “covered the security cameras with paint. Then they wrote terrorist propaganda and insults directed at me around the factory,” said Suat Sahin, member of the World Turkish Business Council (DTIİK) Regional Committee for Europe.

Sahin said the PKK supporters also broke the windows of parked vehicles and the factory itself, adding: “They then threw poisonous chemical substances inside. We still can’t go inside.”

He said after the attack was discovered early Monday, factory officials immediately called the police.

Saying that police cordoned off the factory and called the fire brigade about toxic smells in the factory, Sahin added that a 25-person team spent hours examining the site.

Sahin said nine of his employees got sick due to the chemical substances. He said PKK supporters have also attacked him in the past, but no one has been caught.

“We’re trying to earn our bread here. We pay taxes. The Swiss government, state, and police are responsible for ensuring our safety,” said Sahin.

Other Turkish businesspeople in Switzerland have suffered from similar attacks and this will happen again if officials fail to do something, he stressed.

“The perpetrators are known. Why have they stayed untouched for years? I can’t understand that,” Sahin said.

The PKK has been classified as an "ethno-nationalist" and "separatist" terrorist group by EU law enforcement agency EUROPOL, but has long been active in Switzerland and other European countries, using these territories for recruitment, fundraising, and propaganda activities.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, infants, and children.