An official report recently released in Germany shows supporters of the PKK terrorist group committed 356 politically motivated crimes against Turks and Türkiye in 2023.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Holger Münch, the president of the Federal Criminal Police Office, revealed the report on politically motivated crimes at a news conference on Tuesday. Faeser said the number of politically motivated crimes in 2023 was 60,028. It reached its highest level since the government started tracking it more than 20 years ago, with the greatest threat coming from people with far-right motivations, according to the officials.
The PKK, classified as an "ethno-nationalist" terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency, Europol, has been banned in Germany since 1993.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, BfV, warned in its annual report that the PKK remains the largest foreign extremist group in the country and its followers can carry out violent attacks upon instructions from group leaders abroad.
The group's sympathizers attacked the Turkish Consulate building in Hannover in March after holding pro-PKK demonstrations in the city without any intervention from the police. No one was killed or injured, but there was damage to the building, which German security is obligated to protect as an official representation of Türkiye in the country. Similarly, the same week, the group attacked Turkish nationals and scuffled with the police during riots in two Belgian cities. Ankara has since urged action from European countries.
The German government considers numerous acts as political, including intent to hinder democracy and crimes aimed at members of certain ethnic, religious or other groups.
Right-wing politically motivated crimes increased by 23% in 2023 to 28,945 cases, of which 1,270 were violent. Left-wing crimes increased by 11% to 7,777, of which 916 were violent.
“Politically motivated criminality has almost doubled within the last 10 years and continues to increase,” said Holger Münch. “Parts of the population are tending toward radicalization. These tendencies include attempts to delegitimize the state and its monopoly on violence.”
Along with threats of PKK, the Turkish community in Germany faces the risk of physical attacks from far-right groups and individuals.
It is "disgraceful and scandalous for Western democracies" that far-right movements in some European countries have been receiving state support, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said earlier this month.
"The fact that far-right movements are supported by the state itself in some European countries is a tragedy, disgraceful and scandalous for Western democracies," Erdoğan said in a speech at the International Democratic Union Capacity Building and Training Workshop in the Turkish capital Ankara.
"Today, the neo-Nazi terrorism fueled by hatred against Turkish and Muslim (people) has reached levels that threaten the lives and property of our people," he added. He stressed that Türkiye cannot remain silent in the face of "heinous" acts of racist terrorism, pointing to the killing of dozens of Turkish nationals abroad.
Turks suffered from neo-Nazi attacks, arson attacks on their houses, and brutal murders at the hands of the National Socialist Underground (NSU) since the 1980s.
The PKK has been infiltrating European countries by exploiting the legal gaps and vague policies to recruit militants and finance its activities. Recently, eight PKK terrorists were detained in a simultaneous operation by the French and Belgian police. The suspects were accused of preparing or financing terrorist acts and extorting money to finance a terrorist organization. The Belgian police confiscated documents and technical equipment of the pro-PKK Sterk TV and Medya Haber TV channels in raids on their studios, while the French police carried out raids on the pro-PKK Drancy Democratic Kurdish Community Center and the homes of some of its members.
The PKK terrorists see Europe as a strategic front against Türkiye and utilize it as a logistical, financial and recruitment base, as European countries remain silent and even support them, even though the PKK is classified as a terrorist group by the bloc. The tolerance of European countries of PKK’s activities allowed them to take daring steps and raise their voices. Belgium is the so-called headquarters of the PKK in Europe but it also carries out propaganda activities in France, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
In their activities in Europe, the PKK sympathizers organize quickly and carry out violent acts, and clash with security forces. The recent surge in PKK violence has pushed European authorities to draw the line and take action. For instance, the surge in PKK attacks against Turkish people, and the insufficient response of Belgian security forces have led many people to react against the PKK.
