The confession of a PKK terrorist who chose to surrender revealed the terror group’s freedom in Europe and how it recruits members thousands of miles from its northern Iraqi strongholds.
The terrorist was among four people who decided to leave the group and flee their hiding places in northern Iraq. They surrendered to Turkish security forces at the Turkish-Iraqi border last week. The Ministry of National Defense announced on Sunday that the man, nicknamed “Munzur B”, admitted to having joined the group last year while residing in France and was sent to terrorist camps in the northern Iraq. He also spent some time in a camp in Greece before traveling to Iraq, the ministry said.
On June 22, four PKK members laid down their arms at the Turkish border posts of Habur and Silopi. PKK terrorists have hideouts in northern Iraq, across the Turkish border, which they use to plan attacks against Turkey.
Ankara has launched a series of operations to eliminate terrorists hiding in northern Iraq and preparing cross-border attacks in Turkey. In its more than 35-year terrorist campaign against Turkey, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Munzur B. is the second terrorist discovered to have joined the PKK from France in two weeks. Turkish authorities have announced that one of the two terrorists eliminated last week during counter-terrorism operations in northern Iraq was a French recruit, while the other was a German citizen.
The terror group has seen a decline in new recruits from Turkey, where it exploited a disillusioned youth, especially in the southeastern provinces. Authorities say the number of PKK recruits inside Turkey’s borders has dropped by around ‘hundreds’ in recent years, unlike in recent decades when it dramatically increased and terrorized the country, especially southern regions -east and east. Yet so-called “foreign fighters” are apparently heading towards the terrorist group, especially from European countries. In fact, the PKK enjoys wide support in European countries, from Sweden to Germany and France, where its supporters run so-called “Kurdish associations” to legitimize their activities.
France is one of the countries where the PKK enjoys support. Last year, an attack on a Kurdish cultural center in the country paved the way for riots by pro-PKK supporters.
It is not clear if the “camp” in Greece, where Munzur B. stayed and “learned details (about the PKK)” according to his statement, is the famous Lavrion, but Greece has received its fair share of criticism from Turkey for its tolerance. of the terrorist group. The Lavrion camp has long been a point of contention in Turkey-Greece relations. Images from the camp show that it has become a base for PKK terrorists.
The scene of the camp resembles a terrorist base, with terrorist symbols and pictures of its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan adorning its walls. Turkish officials have often said that the camp is home to “everything from the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front), the PKK and the FETÖ (Gülenist Terrorist Group)”.
Greece has long been accused of being the favorite refuge of The Terrorists DHKP-C and PKK. Those fleeing Turkey sought refuge in refugee camps in Lavrion, near Athens, under the guise of asylum, especially in the 1980s.
The influence of the PKK in Europe
The threat the terror group poses to Europe is among those covered in the annual report by Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency. The “Report on the Situation and Trends of Terrorism in the European Union” published earlier this month revealed that members of certain European far-left groups and anarchists trained and fought alongside terrorists of the PKK in northern Iraq, southeastern Turkey and more recently in northeastern Syria, where most of the terrorists fought. terrorist group attacks took place.
“The PKK is very active in the EU, mainly using member states as bases for administrative, recruiting and funding purposes,” he said, adding that drug trafficking and fraud is one of its main sources of income in the EU to finance its terrorist campaigns. The PKK also has an extensive propaganda apparatus across Europe. According to the agency, in 2022 Germany arrested four people and one person in Italy for their links with the PKK.
The report indicates that the PKK raises large sums of money within the EU through its annual international fundraising campaign “kampanya”. He says support for the PKK is “a long-standing problem for the left-wing extremist scene” and notes that some left-wing extremists have also been “training and fighting” with forces linked to the terror group in conflict zones for years. .
“Some Member States reported the return (of foreign terrorist fighters) from northeast Syria in 2022. These returnees are combat-trained and therefore may pose a threat to Member States,” the report said, referring to a part of occupied Syria. by the Syrian branch of the PKK, the YPG.
He stressed that the terrorist group continued to focus on its propaganda, recruitment and financing activities to support its activities in Iraq, Syria and Turkey. “One arrest in Italy took place in relation to the PKK. Four arrests in Germany (Bremen, Kassel, Leverkusen and Nuremberg) for ethno-nationalist offenses were linked to the PKK,” the statement said.
The report points out that Turkey’s ongoing operations against the terror group and the continued imprisonment of its leader Abdullah Öcalan have motivated its supporters to continue contributing and donating to the group. “Profits collected through various activities are intended to support the PKK’s extensive propaganda apparatus in the EU, to provide humanitarian aid (to PKK-controlled areas) and to fund the YPG,” the report said.
“Illegal sources of funding for the PKK include drug trafficking and fraud perpetrated in the EU. PKK members with EU citizenship or permanent residency in member states traveled to conflict zones in Syria and Iraq to take part in armed conflicts. often facilitated by the main organisation, which also allows PKK members to return to the EU. PKK propaganda focuses on lobbying for the release of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, the removal of the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations in the EU, and the establishment of terrorist organizations. a permanent and sovereign Kurdish state under the leadership of the PKK. Several calls have been made online to stop the flow of money to Turkey and to boycott Turkish products and services,” he said.
The presence of the PKK in Europe is on the agenda of Turkey’s relations with Sweden, in the context of the Nordic country’s candidacy for NATO membership. Turkey has refused to approve Sweden’s inclusion in the military alliance as long as it tolerates the activities of terrorist groups, including the PKK, and harbors its members. Sweden has been the scene of several gatherings of supporters of terrorist groups.