PKK backers disrupt Turkey's tourism office in Vienna

By Hasan Tosun

VIENNA

Supporters of the PKK terrorist organization disrupted Turkey’s culture and tourism office in Vienna Thursday, by damaging its brochures and chanting slogans against the republic, Turkish envoy told Anadolu Agency,

The office in the city's Stephansplatz Square operates under Turkey’s embassy in Austria.

Ten PKK supporters reportedly entered the office by tricking its staff inside and damaged brochures about Turkey's tourism potential. The group also chanted pro-PKK slogans from the office's window.

Turkey's Ambassador to Austria Hasan Gogus told Anadolu Agency the incident constituted an infringement of the Vienna convention itself since the office was considered part of the embassy.

The Turkish embassy had repeatedly asked local officials to stop the PKK from spreading its terrorist propaganda in Vienna, Gogus said.

A police investigation into the incident has been launched, he added.

The PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU – resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, nearly 600 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and more than 5,000 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Sibel Ugurlu contributed to this story from Ankara.