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Turks in Germany demand action against PKK supporters

Anadolu Agency WORLD
Published April 10,2018
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Head of Turkish association in Germany on Monday called German authorities to take immediate action against supporters of the terrorist PKK group to prevent them from targeting Turkish establishments in the country.

"Please do not allow those who are trying to disturb the peace," head of the European Turkish-Islamic Union (ATIB), Ihsan Oner, said in a statement.

"The Turkish community here is about to run out of patience because of such attacks. We are calling everyone for common sense to protect the rights of the Turkish community like any other community."

PYD/PKK supporters vandalized two shops owned by Turks and a mosque over the weekend in Darmstadt city in Hessen state, shattering windows and spray-painting racial slurs on their walls, according to Umit Cengiz, the head of Darmstadt Foreigners' Council.

The PYD/PKK terror group and far-left organizations have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks since Jan. 20 to protest against Turkey's counterterrorism operation in northwestern Syria.

The PKK terrorist organization has been banned in Germany since 1993, but it remains active, with nearly 14,000 followers among the Kurdish immigrant population in the country.

Ankara has long criticized Berlin for not taking serious measures against the PKK and its Syrian branch PYD, which use the country as a platform for their fund-raising, recruitment, and propaganda activities.

Germany has a 3 million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second- and third-generation German-born citizens whose Turkish grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.

Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch on Jan. 20 to clear terrorist groups from Afrin in northwestern Syria amid growing threats posed from the region.