Berlin police have warned that there are risks of attacks by
Kurdish militants against Turkish targets in Germany,
according to an internal document seen by Welt am Sonntag
newspaper.
The document classified “for use only by the service” said
militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) could
carry out “offences against state institutions including
Turkey’s consulate and embassy as well as cultural and
commercial facilities in the form of media-attention
attracting occupations, vandalism and arson”.
In particular, vehicles bearing the Turkish diplomatic flags
could be set on fire before Turkey’s elections on November
1, warned the document quoted by the newspaper.
Major companies like airlines and banks could also be
under threat of “occupations of radio and media offices,
party offices”.
A police spokeswoman declined comment on the report.
PKK militants have carried out several strikes in Turkey in
recent weeks, after Ankara used air power and ground forces
in a self-declared “anti-terror” operation launched in late
July to try to cripple the rebel group in its strongholds in
southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.
The PKK has waged an insurgency for self rule in Turkey’s
southeast since 1984 that has claimed tens of thousands of
lives. Both sides had appeared to be inching towards a peace
deal after a 2013 ceasefire, but its prospects are now seen as
far off as ever.
Germany is home to a three-million-strong ethnic Turkish
community, with many having immigrated in the 1960s and
1970s for employment.


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