A suspected member of the PKK terrorist organization is facing charges in Germany.
Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office brought charges against Selahattin K. on Thursday for membership of a foreign terrorist organization, the authorities said.
Germany categorizes the PKK as a foreign terrorist organization responsible for attacks and assassinations in Türkiye. The terrorist group has been prohibited from operating in Germany since 1993.
The suspect, a Turkish national, was allegedly a member of the PKK's leadership between January 2014 and July 2015 and is suspected of having performed the "typical management tasks of a sector leader," according to the prosecutor.
He allegedly helped organize and carry out propaganda events and meetings, instructed subordinates and activists, and monitored their work.
The defendant was initially detained in Italy on a European arrest warrant and then transferred to Germany for prosecution.
German police arrested him at Frankfurt Airport in August and he has since been held in pre-trial detention.
Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court officials must now decide whether to schedule a trial.
Türkiye has long urged its NATO ally Germany to take stronger action against the PKK, stressing that the terrorist group uses the country as a platform for recruitment, propaganda and fundraising activities. In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people.
According to an annual report by the country's domestic intelligence agency BfV, the PKK has the largest number of followers, with nearly 15,000 people, among foreign terrorist groups that are active in Germany.
Last year, PKK members committed 286 crimes, including violent attacks, resulting in both personal injury and property damage, it said. The PKK has recruited more than 300 foreign fighters from Germany since 2013, and they were given military training in Syria and Iraq, the report said. At least 41 of these foreign fighters died in battle zones, while nearly 160 returned to Germany in recent years, the report said, without giving any further details.
The PKK relies on its supporters and pro-PKK political groups across Europe and mainly uses the continent for illicit drug trafficking as a major financial engine to support its activities.
A report from Türkiye’s General Directorate of Security has indicated the group controls a substantial portion of the European drug market, generating billions of dollars annually from its trafficking operations.
Europol's recent "EU Terrorism Situation & Trend Report" revealed that the group maintained "an apparatus that provided logistical and financial support to its operatives in Türkiye and neighboring countries and promoted its political objective.
Europol’s 2022 report further identified the PKK as a leading player in money laundering and extortion, coordinating these activities through the European Democratic Kurdish Society Congress (KCDK-E) based in Belgium.
In response to these revelations, the EU had extended sanctions against the PKK and its affiliates.
