Switzerland acknowledges PKK terror group’s activities within its borders
At a rally organized by PKK terror group supporters hold protests targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Bern, Switzerland, March 25, 2017. (AA Photo)
The Swiss Federal Council stated that the PKK terror group organizes around six training camps in Switzerland each year, a claim supported by the findings of the Security 2024 Report, which revealed the PKK’s covert activities.
The council’s remarks came Thursday in response to an inquiry from parliamentarian Jacqueline de Quattro regarding the terror group’s activities within the country.
The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and the EU, has waged a 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, resulting in the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and the elderly. The YPG is the PKK’s affiliate in Syria.
In her inquiry, de Quattro said the threat of terrorism in the country “remains high” and posed three questions to the Federal Council: how they assess the PKK’s presence in Switzerland, the number of training camps organized by the PKK, and whether a strategy has been developed to address this emerging threat.
Her questions were citing the security report published in late October by the Federal Intelligence Service, revealing that the PKK engages in covert activities, including propaganda, recruitment, and training camps, both in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe.
Terror group recruits young people
The PKK reportedly indoctrinates young people, recruits people to serve as future cadres, and occasionally cooperates with violent left-wing extremist groups, it said.
The report noted that the PKK terror group’s activities could escalate in response to worsening conditions in northern Syria and Iraq or unusual incidents involving the group. Turkish diplomatic missions, cultural centers, and mosques in Switzerland were identified as potential targets in the report.
In their response, the Federal Council stated: “In Switzerland, the PKK collects money and conducts propaganda activities as well as training camps,” emphasizing that these camps are used to “indoctrinate young people and to recruit individuals as future cadres and/or for front-line operations against the Turkish army.”
The council acknowledged that the camps focus on ideological education, and they do not provide training in militancy.
Regarding the number of camps, it said that “an exact number of camps that have taken place cannot be given as “they are carried out clandestinely and cannot always be clearly distinguished from other events.”
‘New situation in Syria’
“The Federal Intelligence Service assumes that there are around six such camps per year,” the council said.
“With the new situation in Syria, (it is) likely to lead to increased PKK activism in Switzerland, but this should hardly be accompanied by acts of violence,” it said.
In addressing the threat posed by the PKK, the council affirmed that the Federal Intelligence Service monitors potential risks and implements preventive measures to safeguard Switzerland’s security.
“In addition, in order to safeguard Switzerland’s internal or external security, federal police consistently issue preventive police measures (particularly entry bans) against people who belong or have belonged to the PKK, provided that the conditions (concrete and current evidence suggesting that the person concerned poses a threat to Switzerland’s internal or external security) are met and the measure proves to be proportionate,” it said.
