Germany Arrests Suspected Member of Kurdish Militant Group
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:19 am
Turkish soldiers carrying the coffins of soldiers who were killed in an attack by members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during funerals in Van, August 18, 2011.
German authorities said Friday they have arrested a suspected member of the banned Kurdish militant group PKK near Frankfurt Airport.
Federal prosecutors said the man, a Turkish citizen identified only as Gokmen C. for privacy reasons, was arrested Thursday at the railway station connected to the airport.
The man is suspected of having coordinated PKK activities in parts of central Germany between April 2018 and June 2019.
Prosecutors said the suspect took part in propaganda events and coordinated the collection of donations, while reporting to the group's leadership in Europe.
The PKK is considered a terror organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Since 1984 its members have been waging a separatist insurgency inside Turkey that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.