Violent acts by the PKK terrorist group in Germany nearly doubled in 2018, according to a report released by the country's interior minister yesterday.
In a press conference in Berlin unveiling the report, Horst Seehofer also said far-right acts of violence have to be taken seriously, calling the numbers "alarming."
According to the report, while 2017 saw 28 far-right violent acts in Germany, in 2018 the number leaped to 48.
Violent acts in Germany by the PKK terrorist group rose from 182 in 2017 to 355 in 2018, the report said.
The report added that the PKK carried out 1,187 illegal acts in Germany in 2017, but this rose to 1,928 in 2018.
It said the number of PKK members in Germany was stable at 14,500, making it the strongest foreign organization in Germany with the most members.
The PKK raised more than 15 million euros ($17.06 million) in funds in 2018 in Germany and also raised 25 million euros in Europe, the report said.
In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of nearly 40,000 people, including many women and children.
The new report also provided numbers on the presence of far-left Turkey-based terror groups in Germany.
It said the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) has 650 members in Germany, while the Turkish Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (TKP/ML) has 1,350, and the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) has 600.
The DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey, including a 2013 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which martyred a Turkish security guard.
The group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.
Report: PKK ramps up crimes against Turks in Germany
The European police authority also announced yesterday that PKK terrorists have ramped up crimes against Turkish facilities in Germany.
"In Germany, there was a significant rise in the number of offences against Turkish facilities [associations, mosques, shops etc.]," Europol said in the Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2019 released on its website.
The report pointed out that the attacks in Germany were carried out "as an act of vengeance" for Turkey's anti-terror operation in Afrin, Syria and highlighted the solidarity between the left-wing and the PKK terror group.
Also touching on funding of the terrorists, it added: "Terrorists continued using nonprofit organizations to raise funds for terrorist purposes from Muslim communities."
It also added that PKK terrorists and their supporters collect money in Europe from membership fees, the sale of publications and annual fundraising campaigns.
"Belgium reports the sentencing in 2018 of four individuals for participating in a ‘Kampanya' [fundraising campaign]," it said. The PKK also provides "logistical and financial support" to its offshoot in Syria, according to the report. It also noted that the PKK members were involved in organized crime, drug smuggling and sales, migrant trafficking and money laundering.
Senior DHKP-C figure sentenced to 5 years in prison
Meanwhile, a DHKP-C terrorist was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison by the Hamburg State Court in Germany.
The 47-year-old suspect was accused of leading a foreign terrorist organization and working for the terrorist organization since 2002 in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Germany banned the DHKP-C in 1998, but the group is still active with around 650 followers among the immigrant population.