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Adivities LinIed to Kurdktiin W

Objective
1. This assesscrn examines the undertaken on behaLf of the Kurdish national Party (PKJL a.k.a. Kongra Gel, KGK) in Europ
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Abdtillah Ocahin Anntrnnces Ceaseflrc with Ankara 2. The Government of Turkey began negotiations with imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in October 2012 with the assistance a Turkeys National Intelligence Organization (MIT). Following months of ncgotiations Ocalan issued a ceasefire declaration and called for the withdrawal of PKK militants from the country on a symbolic date, 2013 03 21, the Kurdish New Year, In the past, the day has been marred by violent. dashes between Kurdish activists and Turkish security t&ces. The withdrawal of PKK militants is expected by August 2013 under the ongoing peace process. According to Turkish media. approamaiely 1..0O PKK militants are believed to he inside Turkey, while the exact number of PKK militants is not known, it is widely believed the group includes 45000 militants, mostly in the Qandil niduntaitis of northern Iraq. PKK also maintains a presence in Syria, Iran and F.uropc. Criminal Activities May lose a Problem for the Peace Plan 3.

Turkish media reports allege PKK )i possesses lens of billions of US dollars worth of asseis 4 according to Turkish financial intelligence units. In January 2013. The &thah daily reported that the peace process might be hampered by PKKS financial interests in the EU and the USA, particularly as they relate Lo drugs and arms trafficking as well as legitimate business. According to a 2012 US Congressional Research Report, PKK turned to criminal activities following a decline in the state sponsondiip it once receied, especially from Damascus and lehran during the 1980s and I 990s.
PkK 4 According to the ITS State Department, P1(1< receives substantial financial Support from the large Kurdish diaspora in Europe (directly and indirectly), through fundraising and criminal activities. By the late l990s, and after Ocalw .tiii 1999. the PKK engaged heavily in various transuational organized criminal activities, iie!udirigarm trafficking, human smuggling, forced recruitment, money laundering, counterteitingndontrabad goods. hut especially drug trafficking and extortion PKK earns between $50-150 million a year from organized crime and drug smuggling.
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5. PXK transits drugs through several European countries, Including: Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France. Italy. Denmark. Switzerland, Ronianin, and Bulgaria, among others. PKK also collecis revenues by collecting taxes through voluntary and coercive means by targeting ethnic- Kurdish communities around the world.
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PKK4Inked Organizations In Europe

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6. PKK has been a prosoribed terrorist organization iii the U sine 2004, Security authorities throughout the EU, especially in Germany and Fnince, are aciia1ytagetiug domestic PKK elements and appear increasingly willing to strengthen coun rt.errorisin cooperatibn with Turkey on the PKK issue.
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7. PKKs logistical and ideological support bases in Europe arc integral to the organizations long term survival and the community tends to be very sympathetic to Ocalan himsett It runs ftmdraising and political activities through pro-Km-dish front groups and according to Turkish authoriLies, it has a network of over 300 affiliated organizations in Europe, about half of which are in Germany. For example. KON-KURD is an umbrella confederation of Kurdish associations throughout Europe, based in Belgium. Its former chairman, Mizamettin Togu, was arrested in 2010 by Italian authorities for his ties to PKK. The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) is another pro-Kurdish umbrella organization. which Turkish authorities maintain is also linked to PKK. Media reports based on information from Turkish authorities indicate KCK is active primarily in Germany, France and Greece. 8. According to the Janes World Insurgency and Terrorism 2012 Report, PKK has a large support base among the Kurdish diaspora particularly in Germany. the Netherlands and Belgium. Although Germany was one of the iirst EU countries to ban the group in 1993 (as did France). it has a significant presence there, where sipporlers eoncenIrte on pro-Kurdish activism, organizing marches, demonstratioiis and propaganda activiiies There are about 500,000 Kurds in Germany, of whom around 10,000 are believed to be PKK supporters.
Implications for Canada

9, PKK has been a proscribed terrorist organisalion in Canada since December 2002

Canadas Kurdish community is n1ative1y small According to 2011 data front Statistics Canada, the mother tongue of around 9,00 individuals in Canada is Kurdisl, herea in Europe, there may be as many as 1.5 million Kurds. As in many Europeafl coiini.rics, most PKKlinked activity in Canada has been for fundraising and propaganda. -c... 4 A review of recent open sources underscores the range of PKK-relthcdictivities and arrests in European countries (See Appendix 1).
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Appendix A Recent earn pies of PKlcunked incidents in the EU 1. What follows is a non-exhaustive list of recent PKK-liuked activities in the EU. many of these incidents have occurred in Germany and France, arid most are arrests and charges laid against individuals suspected of having PKK links.
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2013 03 12

Gcrmnny: German federal prosecutors charged a 35 year old Turkish man. identitied only as Metin A., with membership in a reign terrorist organization. German authorities suspect he was responsible for recruiting for the PKK throughout Europe and was a leading recruiter tbr PKKs -Youth Wing,. known as Konialen Ciwan. Friincc: Tens of thousands of Kurds from across Europe gathered in the French city of Slratsbourg to mark the 1 4 anniversary of the capture of jailed PKK leader, Abdullab Ocalan. The protest was organized by the Federation of Kurdish Associations in France (FEYKA). No major incidents of violence appear to have been reported. Spaln/Franee French and Spanish police arrested a total of 23 people suspected of having Links,to PKK in operations across several cities in France and Spain. 17 Kurds were arrested in south western France in an anti-terror investigation into PKI< extortion rackets. Spanish authorities detained 6 further suspects and Spains ministry of the interior claimed the raids ha,f targeted the linancing and extortion system used by PKK networks. Germany: German federal prosecutors charged a Turkish national identified as .Abdullah S.. with membership in the IKK, aflerarresting him iii April 2012. lIe allegedly raised funds for the organization .hy collecting donations and contributions, running commercial activities and selling propaganda material between June 2003 to June 2004. France: Police in France arrested a man in connection with the killing of three Kurdish activists in Paris on 2013 01 09. The suspect, 0mev Guney, a 30-year-old Tkish national who, prosecutors alleged, has been a member of the PKK for two years. Fi-anee: Senior PKK member and PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz, along with two other female Kurdish activists Fidan Doan and Leyla oylemez were shot dead inside th KurdistanJnlbnzuition Bureau in Paris, France. The Nthrtands: Dutch polite raided what they believed was a secret meeting of PKK members. Fifty-tiv individuals were held for questioning howcver 37 were later released and only nine were referred to court on 2012 12 06. The suspects are accused of being nembers of the PKK,

2013 02 16

2013 02 12

2013 02 12

2013 01 21

2013 01 09

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2012 10 12

France: The Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), an organization with ties to PKK, released a statement threatening France following the arrest of one of its leaders in Europe, Adem Uzun. in Paris on 2012 10 06. The KCK statement said the group would use its right to retaliation urs France alandons its hostile altitude t, against the Kurds
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2012 09 18

Denmark Eight ethnic Kurds were lamed by Danish authoribe 1or uspeted nwohtement in providing rmanctal support. to PKTguerillas in Turkey during a series of counterterronsm operations in CopnhageiDiinish authorities allege the men had collected and sent PKK finds totallitig ah US$24.6 million, including $1 I million in the three previous yew-a,
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2012 0909

Germany: EighLy German police otlicers were wounded afler being attacked with stones, bottles, and fireworks in violent riots during a Kurdish festival after the organizers reportedly tried to prevent a 14-year-old boy from entering as he was likely carrying a PKK flag in Mannheim city. Thirteen police vehicles were damaged during riots and 31 peoplc were arrested. Germany German federal prosecutors announced on 2012 05 31 that they had earlier charged a Turkih man, identified as All Lshan K., with alleged PKK membership on 2012 0514.Prceuutoss claim the suspect was a member of PKK in the Hamburg region and responsible for collecting funds for the organizations operations France: Five suspected PKX members identified only as ethnic Kurdish and Turkish citizens arrested.. by French: security forces during a series of co-ordinated counterterrorism operations targeting eighl residences on suspicion of engaging in extortion activities to raise funds forthe organization.
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2012 05 14

2012 03 27

2012 02 15

Germany, France: Suspected PKK supporters threw an incendiary device at the local oflice of the Todays Zarnan newspaper in Cologne. Similarly, a oup of about 15-suspected PKK supporters attacked the local office of The Today Zaman in Paris. iThe perpetrators reportedly threatened the employees and caused damage to the building.
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2012 02 15

Gennany; About 20 pro-Kurdish demon.ctrators stormed and occupied the local bU oflice ir Berlin, before demanding the immediate release of PKK leader Ahdiillab Ocalan,

2012 0110 Dernark: A Daiiih court in Copenhagen imposed a line of 400,000 on the Roj TV teleyisipi channel after ruling that it had in the past been financed by, and disseniinatcd propaganda for. the PKK. The court, however ruled against banning v thechannel.

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2011 10 12

Germany: Security forces ina counierierrorism operation in Hamburg detained a suspected PKK militant and Turkish national, identified as All Ishan.

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2011 1006

Scandinavia Turkevs Financial Crime Investigation Board (MASAK), part of the Ministry ot Finance, was planning to launch a new operation to stem the how of illegal PKK funding from Western Furop, particularly from Scandinavian countries. Media reports indicaic t1iat,hc planned opcration. 5 would involve a new arrangement with Sweden, Ndrwy PbIand and t&imik on. exchanging inlonnation regarding money laundering u1dthE,fmancaL sources of Lcrronst organizations such as PKK. f:, France: Authorities detained several suspected PKK, militants during ctrnterterrorism operations targeting private residenes and a Kurdish cultural centre in Marseille. Germany: German police arrested two men with suspected PKK links in th city of Freiburg in the German state of Baden-Wurtternburg and in the city of Dsseldorf in Gerrnanys North Rhine Westphalia state.

2011 0920

2011 07 17

LIrINSThUCTIONS

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THREAT HIGHLIGHT
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Murder of Co-Founder of Kurdish KongraGel I

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On 2013 01 10, three women Linked to the ethno-natiortalist Kurdish terrQrist group Kongra. Gel (1(0K, also known as PKK), were found murdered at the Kurdish Institute in Pans. One of the victims was Sakine Cansiz, a co-founder of the movement,
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French azti-terror police have huanhed an investigation into the killings,

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Turkey recently disctoed that, for wceks, it had been engaged in direct talks . with, Abdullah Ocalan. the iinprisoiiedyet still influential founder of KGK, aimed at disanning Kurdisli militants and ending the decades-long conflict.

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KGK s listed as a terrorist group tn Canada, the USA and the Europan Uiiio..
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Assessmnt Note:
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