Germany arrests political refugees from Turkey for 'terrorism'

Photo:German Federal Prosecutor's Office building

Click to read the article in Turkish

Germany's Federal Court of Justice had issued an arrest warrant against three political exiles from Turkey for allegedly being a member of a "foreign terrorist organization."

According to DW Turkish, Özgül E. and İhsan C. holding Turkey passports and Serkan G. holding a German passport will be put on trial for membership of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).

The Federal Prosecutor's Office announced that Özgül E. was detained in Heidelberg on 16 May, Serkan K. in Hamburg on 17 May, and İhsan C. in Bochum on 18 May.

The political background of the operation

According to the statements of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, organizing concerts, collecting donations, and publishing a weekly newsletter are the routine political activities of the three exiles in Germany.

It was also stated that the defendants were followed for at least 5 years.

On the other hand, the government-affiliated Sabah Newspaper in Turkey published an article titled "Germany arrests members of DHKP-C terrorist group sought by Turkey."

The detentions just came after Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's repeated calls for Sweden and Finland for the extradition of "terrorists" in the countries in question.

Erdoğan vetoed Finland and Sweden's NATO membership for blaming the countries for supporting "terrorists."

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The timing of the operations raises doubts about the political motives behind it. (AEK/TB)