Six arrested in UK counter-terrorism investigation into suspected PKK activity

Four men and two women were detained by Met Police officers in London

A police officer outside a Kurdish community centre after the arrests. Reuters

Six people suspected of being involved in terrorist activity linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party have been arrested in London.

The four men, aged 23, 27, 56 and 62, and two women, aged 31 and 59, were detained on Wednesday and are being questioned at a police station in the city, the Met Police said.

Officers have started searches at eight addresses across London, including the Kurdish Community Centre in the Haringey area of north London.

The PKK has been fighting against the Turkish state since 1984 for greater rights for the country's significant Kurdish minority and is banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK, as well as by the US, the EU and others.

Acting commander Helen Flanagan, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the arrests follow “a significant investigation” and operation into activity which the force believes 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,” she said.

“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 those arrested have been detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 but there is not believed to be any imminent threat to the public linked to the investigation.

Ms Flanagan said the investigation and arrests were about “protecting our Turkish and Kurdish communities”.

“I would urge anyone who thinks they may have been affected or targeted by those linked to the PKK to get in touch,” she said.

The Haringey Centre will be closed for two weeks while the investigation continues. Ms Flanagan said she was aware losing the community centre may cause “inconvenience to some people” and “officers will be working as quickly as they can”,

She added that “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 claimed responsibility for an attack on a defence company in Ankara in which seven people, including two assailants, were killed and 22 others were injured. Turkish air strikes launched in retaliation killed at least 27 civilians in northern and eastern Syria.

Back in 2021 three men convicted of breaking terrorism laws by showing their support for the PKK by waving flags at a rally in London lost their appeals at the UK’s Supreme Court.