ANTI terror police swooped to arrest six people suspected of being members of a network belonging to banned militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
A 59-year-old woman, a 27-year-old man, a 31-year-old woman, a 62-year-old man, a 56-year-old man and a 23-year-old man were all detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 following the raids by armed officers in London.
The PKK is banned as a terrorist organisation in Turkey, the US and UK, and has been fighting against the Turkish state since the 1980s for greater rights for the country’s significant Kurdish minority.
Officers descended eight locations across the capital, including the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey, north London, but insisted there is not believed to be any imminent threat to the public.
Acting Commander Helen Flanagan, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “This activity has come about following a significant investigation and operation into activity we believe is linked to the terrorist group PKK.
“These are targeted arrests of those we suspect of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the group.
“I hope that these arrests show that we will not tolerate any sort of terrorist activity and that we will take action where we believe there is harm being caused to communities here in the UK or elsewhere.”
The Met said the search of the community centre is expected to last up to two weeks and will remain closed to the public along with the surrounding area, while more officers will be on the surrounding streets.
“This investigation and activity is about protecting all of our communities, but particularly those in our Turkish and Kurdish communities, added Ms Flanagan.
“I would urge anyone who thinks they may have been affected or targeted by those linked to the PKK to get in touch.
“We are also very mindful that closing the community centre may cause inconvenience to some people. Officers will be working as quickly as they can, but these are very serious allegations so it is important that we take care in identifying and gathering as much evidence as we can.”
The PKK has been a proscribed terror organisation since 2001 for its violent campaign for Kurdish self-rule.
The group and its aliases are said by the UK government to be “primarily a separatist movement that seeks an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey”.
