Turkey slams Germany over PKK rally in Frankfurt

BERLIN (AA) - Turkey on Tuesday slammed Germany for allowing followers of PKK terrorist group to march in the city of Frankfurt.

Burak Karartı, Turkish Consulate General in Frankfurt, criticized local police for not intervening to stop protestors, who carried protestors of PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan during a rally on Monday.

Kararti told Anadolu Agency correspondent that they have conveyed Turkey’s protest, and called on German authorities to take necessary measures against terrorism propaganda and impose a ban on PKK symbols.

Around 500 pro-PKK demonstrators gathered at Kennedy square in Frankfurt on Monday, and shouted anti-Turkey slogans, without any confrontation from the police.

Some of the PKK sympathizers carried banned posters and flags of the terrorist group, although the Federal Interior Ministry prohibited such posters and flags in March.

Frankfurt police also sparked an outrage among Turkish social media users on Monday, by posting a controversial tweet on its official account, which was interpreted as a support to the rally of the terrorist PKK followers.

Germany’s reluctance to take serious measures against the activities of PKK has been a major source of tension between the two NATO allies.

While it is banned in 1993 in Germany, the terrorist organization is still active in the country, and carries out significant propaganda, recruitment, and fund-raising activities.

The group has nearly 14,000 followers among Germany’s Kurdish immigrant population, according to the German domestic intelligence agency BfV.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its armed campaign in July 2015.

Since then, it has been responsible for the deaths of some 1,200 Turkish security personnel and civilians, including a number of women and children.