The Federal Ministry of the Interior in Germany launched investigations Thursday against two companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia state on suspicion of supporting the PKK terrorist group, which is listed as a terror organization by Germany.
Police in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate searched the business premises of the companies and the apartment of one of their partners, the ministry announced. The investigation targets the companies Mezopotamien Verlag and MIR Multimedia in Neuss.
The companies are accused of selling products to financially support the organizational structure of the PKK. Additionally, the companies are also suspected of mobilizing against the idea of international understanding. "Our constitutional state is a democracy that defends itself against all extremist phenomena," said Federal Minister of the Interior, Thomas de Maizière of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The PKK, recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the E.U., has been banned in Germany since 1993. However, German authorities often ignore the terrorist group's activities in the country and offer asylum to its militants and executives.
The PKK often holds rallies and support campaigns allowed by German authorities in towns and cities, while its sympathizers often attack the Turkish community. Meanwhile, a mosque that belongs to the German Islamic organization, Milli Görüş (IGMG), was attacked with a Molotov cocktail in the state of Baden-Württemberg on Thursday.
German police launched an investigation into the attack that caused material damage in the mosque. "The intensity of attacks against Muslims and their mosques is concerning," said German Islamic organization's General Secretariat Bekir Altaş on the issue. "Islamophobic attacks should not become unimportant.
The Baden-Württemberg government should take action against it," he added.
