UK: Man who joined PKK/PYD arrested on his return

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

British authorities said Monday they have arrested a man that returned to the U.K. from Syria over his involvement with the terrorist group PKK/PYD.

Aiden Aslin, 23, was arrested in Manchester on his return via Greece, police said in a statement.

Aslin will face questioning under the U.K.’s Terrorism Act after being arrested on suspicion of engaging “in the preparation to fight against Daesh” and possessing “articles for terrorist purposes in Iraq/Syria”, said Nottinghamshire police.

He was among those profiled in the report “The Forgotten Foreign Fighters: The PKK in Syria” last month by U.K.-based think-tank The Henry Jackson Society.

The report laid bare the ties between the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization in the EU and U.S. as well as Turkey, and the PKK/PYD in Syria.

It profiled 60 foreigners who joined the terrorist group from 12 countries and urged the U.K. government to distance itself from the PKK/PYD as it could potentially cause a crisis within Turkey -- a fellow NATO member.

It recommended the U.K. government “consider updating the Foreign Enlistment Act to prevent Britons from joining non-state actors engaged in conflict abroad”.

Those who returned from the PKK/PYD “should be screened to assess if they require any further state attention, either from the criminal justice system or social services,” the report said.

Aslin was previously arrested and questioned by U.K. authorities on his return from Syria for the first time in 2016. He was placed on bail before all charges were dropped last October.

The PKK has waged a terror campaign against Turkey for more than 30 years that has led to the deaths of more than 40,000 people. It is a designated terror group in Turkey, the U.S. and the EU.