MARSEILLE, France – Police in southern France on Tuesday took six people into custody for alleged links to a Kurdish militant organization, weeks after Turkey’s prime minister said Europe wasn’t doing enough to help his country crack down on the group.
Police said the arrests in and around Marseille on Tuesday came as part of a probe by a Paris antiterrorism judge investigating alleged illegal financing of the group, Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as PKK.
The group is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. It has been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.
Under French law, the suspects can be held up to 96 hours for questioning — after which they must be released or charged.
A local Kurdish association said those rounded up included several of its members, including its former president. Roni Baran, a spokesman for The Center for the Kurdish People in Marseille, denied they had committed any wrongdoing and said the operation aimed to “criminalize our association and the Kurdish people.”
Pierre Dharreville, a leader for the French Communist Party in the Marseille region, protested the arrests, saying the area’s Kurds are political refugees who are active in society. He said it would be “intolerable” if the six were in custody because of France’s desire to maintain good trade ties with Turkey.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last month that some European countries were not doing enough to help it fight terrorism. He did not single out any particular countries. Turkish officials have said the PKK raises funds through extortion or other criminal activities in European countries that have a large number of Kurdish immigrants.
via Officials: Police arrest 6 suspected Kurdish separatists in southern France – Winnipeg Free Press.
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