Germany indicts PKK terror group’s senior figure

BERLIN

German prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against a senior figure of the PKK terror group.

The indictment, filed by the Federal Prosecutor's Office, accuses Kenan A. of "being a member of a foreign terrorist organization," among other crimes.

The accused was one of the key figures of the terror group in Germany, and oversaw the PKK’s propaganda and fundraising activities in major German cities, including Hamburg, Cologne, and Dusseldorf, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested in June, following his extradition from the Greek Cypriot administration. Germany had earlier issued a European arrest warrant for him as part of an anti-terrorism investigation.

The PKK, classified as an "ethno-nationalist" terrorist organization by the EU's law enforcement agency Europol, has been banned in Germany since 1993.

However, it remains active in the country, with nearly 14,500 followers among the Kurdish immigrant population, according to the German domestic intelligence agency, BfV.

Türkiye has long urged its NATO ally Germany to take stronger action against the PKK, emphasizing that the terrorist group uses the country as a platform for recruitment, propaganda, and fundraising activities.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people.