Recognized terror group PKK openly maintains dangerous foothold in Europe

By Anadolu Agency Staff

ANKARA (AA) - As supporters of the PKK, a known terrorist organization, openly protested in major European cities this weekend, Türkiye has been sounding the alarm over members of the group, responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands and for supporting human trafficking, drugs, and organized crime, being free to walk the streets.

On Friday, a 69-year-old gunman opened fire on a cultural center and nearby hair salon in Paris, killing at least three people and wounding three others. Local media reports named the shooter as William M., a retired train driver and gun enthusiast with a history of armed offenses.

PKK supporters soon gathered in the area after Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin visited the scene.

In the ensuing protest, they perpetrated acts of violence and clashed with the police, of whom more than two dozen were injured.

Supporters of the terrorist group disrupted peace again on Saturday, this time in London, in another violent encounter with police.

Gathering in front of the French Embassy in London, a group of the terror group's proponents chanted slogans against Türkiye and France over the Paris shooting.

For its part, Türkiye reminded Europe on Sunday of the threat the PKK poses.

"These developments have emerged as a hint that the patronage of terrorist groups in Europe just because of their opposition to Türkiye will eventually cause great trouble for Europe," Omer Celik, spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party, told a group of reporters.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the EU, and the US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG – which also has a presence in Europe, openly sanctioned by several governments – is the terrorist PKK's Syrian branch.

- Vandalism

Several European countries have told EU law enforcement agency Europol that the terror group was also involved in serious and organized criminal activities, according to the report.

PKK sympathizers have vandalized mosques and shops frequented by the Turkish community in Germany. Similar incidents were also reported in Belgium and Switzerland, Europol reported in 2020.

Over the weekend, thousands of PKK supporters marched in Paris, chanting pro-PKK slogans and carrying posters of the terror group's so-called leaders.

They then ripped off pavement stones and lobbed them at police, nearby homes, and shops. The attackers also used fireworks and sparklers, destroying bus stops.

The police intervention was rather subdued, with security forces occasionally using tear gas against the attackers.

In London, the terror group's supporters marched towards the Turkish Embassy, carrying banners reading "Freedom for Ocalan," referring to convicted terrorist ringleader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in Türkiye.

Protesters also disrupted traffic as they marched through central London on a day while residents were rushing to complete their last-minute Christmas shopping.

When they arrived in front of the embassy, police clashed with terror supporters after one of them threw what is thought to most likely be a stone at the building.

They also chanted slogans for "revenge" and "no justice, no peace."

- Recruitment

Europol classifies the PKK as an "ethno-nationalist" and "separatist" terrorist organization, saying in its 2020 and 2021 reports that the group still uses European countries for its propaganda, recruitment, and fundraising activities, even though it is officially banned in most of these nations.

"The group maintained an apparatus that provided logistical and financial support to its operatives in Turkey and neighbouring countries and promoted its political objectives. This apparatus mainly operated under the guise of legally recognised entities, such as Kurdish associations," said Europol's EU Terrorism Situation & Trend Report.

According to the report, PKK recruitment networks within Europe also played a part in EU citizens or residents joining conflicts in the Middle East, such as in Syria and Iraq.

The PKK/YPG, which is the terror group's Syria branch, has recruited nearly 300 people in Germany to travel to the war-torn country, as well as to Iraq, to fight in its ranks, according to the German government.

Authorities made the figure public in response to a parliamentary question by the opposition Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on Nov. 25.

Since 2013, German intelligence services identified nearly 300 people who traveled to northern Syria and Iraq, where they joined the terrorist PKK and affiliated groups, the government said.

It was not possible to determine whether these volunteers actually fought against the Daesh/ISIS terror group, or took part in other conflicts, the government had noted.

Nearly 150 of the foreign fighters have returned to Germany, the government confirmed. However, it did not release any more details on investigations or judicial proceedings against them.

- Fundraising

The PKK continues "to use Europe for fundraising by legal and illegal means," according to Europol, explaining that these activities include fundraising campaigns and donations, as well as "extortion and other organised criminal activities."

For example, Germany's spy chief in June admitted that the country has become a platform for the terrorist organization's fundraising and recruitment activities targeting Türkiye.

"The PKK is organizing various fundraising campaigns in Germany, and then using this money to finance terror attacks in Türkiye," Thomas Haldenwang, head of the German domestic intelligence agency BfV, told a news conference in Berlin.

He said the terror group was also using various associations in Germany to recruit young people as foreign fighters to be sent to Türkiye, Syria, or Iraq.

"The PKK remains an international terror organization, it continues violent attacks and killings in the region," he stressed.

According to the BfV's annual security report released on Tuesday, the PKK is the biggest foreign extremist group in the country, with around 14,500 followers.

It raised an estimated €16.7 million ($17.8 million) in Germany in 2021 and more than €30 million in Europe via various fundraising campaigns, the report said.

- Drug trafficking

Having flourished for more than three decades, the PKK's continent-wide drug trafficking network in Europe is no secret to security and intelligence services, either.

The terror group reaps over $1.5 billion annually from its control over some 80% of the European illicit drug market, according to figures provided by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu last month. It uses these funds to wage its decades-long terror campaign against Türkiye.

According to Europol's EU Terrorism Situation and Trend 2022 report, PKK activities in European countries include money laundering, extortion, and drug trafficking, and are coordinated by the so-called European Democratic Kurdish Society Congress (KCDK-E) headquartered in Belgium.

Further out from the continent, threats, beatings, and brutal murders have been common practice for the PKK in Britain, which also lists it as a terror group.

Using gangs in its profitable drug trade across the UK, the PKK is especially active in London, according to a former member of north London's notorious Tottenham Boys group.

An intelligence report by the UK Metropolitan Police highlighted how the Tottenham Boys, a Kurdish gang based in London, targeted local Kurdish businesses, used extreme violence, and was involved in racketeering to raise money for the terror group.

The gang of around 400 men has the monopoly on distributing Class A and B drugs in north London, the former member, who will be referred to only as Ali in this article due to security reasons, told Anadolu Agency.

Noting that the Tottenham Boys "is one of the biggest of the gangs" in London, Ali said that it, along with the Hackney Bombers and gang of Hayri Goztas, also known as Adanali Hayri, controls most of the British capital's drugs trade along with some smaller Albanian, Jamaican, and Irish groups.