Turkish students that were assaulted by sympathizers of the PKK terrorist organization earlier this week will file a criminal complaint, Burhanettin Kansızoğlu, the head of Imam Hatip Youth and Sports Club, said.
Kansızoğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA) that a total of 20 university students, mostly women, were battered by the PKK sympathizers in Strasbourg.
The students left Turkey to visit the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the European Parliament, according to Kansızoğlu, who noted that a group of PKK sympathizers tried to goad the students by insulting them.
He further noted that the group had affronted Turkish national and moral values with slogans chanted in front of the students.
Some of the female students were directly assaulted, with one of them nearly strangled by their attackers, leaving serious bruises on her neck, while another was punched and suffered from brain swelling as a result, he said.
The tension quickly escalated when more PKK sympathizers joined the scene, he said, adding that the Turkish students responded in self-defense and saved the attacked female classmate.
"What deeply saddened us was the fact that the French police stood there as mere spectators instead of taking action," he said, stressing that had such an incident occurred in Turkey, police would have intervened immediately.
One French police officer with "common sense" later intervened, Kansızoğlu added.
"Administrators allowing members of this terrorist organization to be here should reconsider (their policies)," he said. "They should not hand over this beautiful environment, that is, this peaceful environment, this country, city, town to such members of terrorist organizations, because tomorrow, their children may also experience what we went through."
He went on to say that some of the PKK sympathizers filmed the students and threatened them, saying they would find them later.
Footage obtained by AA showed a group standing next to a booth with photos of PKK ringleaders and banners chanting slogans against Turkey.
Notably, the footage shows that only two police officers intervened as the PKK sympathizers attacked.
The sympathizers set up the booth in 2021 in front of the European Council building in Strasbourg and are present there throughout the day.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and the U.S., and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG – which also has a presence in Europe, openly sanctioned by several governments – is the terrorist PKK's Syrian branch.
