French Police Arrest Eight Men for Alleged PKK Terror Financing, Extortion
Eight men were arrested by French police on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the financing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a terror organization banned in Turkiye and by Western allies.
The arrests were made in the Paris region and southern France.
The men are suspected of preparing and financing terrorist acts, and of attempting to extort funds for the PKK between 2020 and 2024.
Investigators believe they were involved in a campaign to collect funds from Kurdish business people and other Kurds in France.
The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and the EU.
A suspect in a case related to terror funding can be detained by police for up to 96 hours for questioning, according to a source.
The funds were intended for use in Belgium, where Belgian authorities conducted raids on Kurdish media as part of an investigation initiated by a French anti-terror judge.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is the suspected organization behind the funding.
The PKK has been waging a long-standing insurgency for Kurdish autonomy in southeastern Turkiye, resulting in an ongoing conflict between the Kurdish minority and the Turkish government.