Police and public prosecutors have searched several apartments in Saarland belonging to suspected members of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK. The suspicion of involvement in the foreign terrorist organization is directed against four suspects, the general public prosecutor’s office in Koblenz announced on Tuesday. In addition to the apartments in Lebach, Völklingen, Losheim and Beckingen, the rooms of a Kurdish facility in Saarbrücken were also searched.
The state police headquarters in Saarland had been investigating undercover for a long time, it said. The suspects are said to have performed various tasks within the PKK. For example, they are said to have organized fundraisers or events and recruited participants for them.
The Kurds are a large minority in Turkey, and many accuse the state of oppression. The PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993 and is considered a terrorist organization abroad. The PKK and the Turkish state have been fighting each other for decades. Soldiers, police officers and a few civilians were injured and killed in the attacks.
The state central office for combating terrorism and extremism in Rhineland-Palatinate, which is also responsible for the Saarland in the case of terrorism and state security offenses, is based at the Koblenz public prosecutor’s office.
Notice to the Attorney General
