The PKK terrorist group is able to finance its bloody campaign, which has caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people, through drug trafficking in the European Union, according to several reports from Turkish and international law enforcement agencies.
The group is involved in all aspects of the illicit narcotics trade in the bloc, including production, distribution to other nations and street dealing.
It makes over $1.5 billion by dominating 80% of the European illegal drug market, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu revealed, citing official figures.
By leveraging Türkiye’s southeastern border near the Middle East and drug trafficking routes in the Balkans, the Caucasus and Africa, the PKK has been active in drug transportation and is connected to regional drug networks.
To distribute the drugs it brought onto the streets, the terrorists rely on their supporters and pro-PKK political groups throughout Europe, reports found. This is a notion over which Ankara has previously expressed concern and also currently stands as a point of conflict between Türkiye and Sweden and Finland as they seek NATO memberships.
The PKK’s extensive involvement in the drug trade was brought to light in the "2019 EU Drug Market Report" published by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the bloc’s law enforcement agency Europol.
Similarly, a recent intelligence report by the U.K. Metropolitan Police highlighted how the Tottenham Boys, a gang based in London, targeted local businesses and used extreme violence, and engaged in racketeering to raise money for the terrorist group.
Additionally, Europol’s EU Terrorism Situation and Trend 2022, released in July, indicates that the PKK leads in illegal activities being conducted in Europe, including money laundering, extortion and drug trafficking. These activities are reportedly coordinated by the so-called European Democratic Kurdish Society Congress (KCDK-E) located in Belgium.
According to the report, the terrorist group continues its propaganda, protests, 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.
It highlights that left-wing extremists from the member states have traveled to northeastern Syria and northern Iraq and received military training from the YPG terrorist group, the 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 says.
Again in July 2022, the EU extended sanctions on the PKK and the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) for another six months. Its terrorist list was renewed without any changes on the entries for a further six months, the Council of European Union announced.
The blacklist list continued to feature 13 persons and 21 entities or groups, including the PKK and far-left DHKP/C, which are subject to restrictive measures.
In order to combat terrorism, the bloc freezes the funds and financial assets in the EU of the enlisted persons and groups, and it bans EU operators to make economic resources available to them.
The EU applies a separate sanction mechanism for al-Qaida and Daesh.
Various U.S. assessments, too, define the PKK as a criminal syndicate that uses organized crime to finance terrorism.
Top ringleaders of the terrorist group, such as Murat Karayılan, Cemil Bayık and Duran Kalkan, are also on the U.S. wanted list of drug smugglers.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
In recent years, Türkiye has stepped up efforts to cut off drug supplies to the group. At the same time, Turkish security forces regularly conduct counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which to carry out attacks against Türkiye.