Belgian police raided PKK-linked television networks in Brussels on Monday, nearly a month after mass riots by the terrorist group’s supporters in Brussels.
Over 200 federal police officers swooped in on the offices of “Sterk TV” and “Medya Haber TV” in the Flemish region's town of Denderleeuw over the alleged broadcasting of PKK propaganda, security sources said.
Police searched the offices in a nearly five-hour operation and seized dozens of computers and documents, which was confirmed by Denderleeuw Mayor Jo Fonck.
The federal prosecutor’s office said the operation was conducted upon the request of another European country leading an investigation for the prevention of terrorism financing.
No information was given on whether any arrests were made.
The raid comes nearly a month after PKK supporters raised riots outside the European Parliament building in Brussels late last month where some 150 PKK supporters tried to force their way through police barricades. Police stopped the crowd, which was apparently planning to march through a street where Türkiye’s Brussels embassy is located.
The same night, PKK sympathizers sought to provoke Turks in the Limburg province and raised riots in the town of Liege. In Cheratte, a section of the town of Vise with a large Turkish population, the group’s supporters launched several attacks targeting a mosque and offices of Idealists’ Clubs, an association linked with Türkiye’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The group, comprised of masked people, chanted pro-PKK slogans and attacked houses, shops and cars of Turkish residents in Cheratte. Eyewitnesses claimed that the Belgian police did not intervene.
In Limburg, PKK supporters sought to incite the Turkish community by shouting provocative slogans and carrying “flags” of the PKK and posters of its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan. An altercation broke out when some Turks angered by the slogans confronted the convoy, forcing police to intervene using water cannons.
One citizen of Turkish descent was injured after PKK sympathizers assaulted him during the scuffle.
“Showing sympathy and provocation for an organization classified as a terrorist organization, such as the PKK, cannot be tolerated,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo had said.
Similar attacks on Turks and Turkish missions followed the incident that week in other European countries such as Germany and France.
Ankara has since called on said nations to take urgent action, stressing that they are responsible for “the security of our citizens and diplomatic missions.”
“We expect the countries concerned to show zero tolerance for the actions of the terrorist organization's supporters and to bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
The PKK, classified as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants, in a bloody terror campaign since 1984.
Though officially outlawed in the EU and individual member states, in practice, the PKK has been allowed to demonstrate, raise funds for its terror campaign, and threaten or attack locals in European countries. Türkiye has long decried tolerance for the terror group and its supporters in Europe.
