PKK terror group continues fundraising activities in Europe: Europol report

By Busra Nur Cakmak

ANKARA (AA) - The PKK terror group continues its fundraising activities in Europe, the bloc’s law enforcement agency Europol said on Wednesday.

According to Europol’s annual European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2022, PKK organizations in the EU are coordinated by the Belgium-based European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress (KCDK-E).

The report noted that the PKK terror group continued its propaganda, protest, recruitment and fundraising activities throughout Europe despite COVID-19, and that money was collected from European countries through membership fees, sales of publications, special events and campaigns.

PKK members were also involved in “organized crime activities such as money laundering, racketeering, extortion and drug trafficking,” said the report.

The report said that left-wing extremists from the member states have traveled to northeastern Syria and northern Iraq and received military training from the YPG terror group, which is PKK’s offshoot in Syria.

“Given the training and the battle experience acquired there, it is assessed that upon their return to the EU, such individuals have the potential to carry out violent attacks,” the report said.