Hannover officials visit Turkish Consulate after PKK supporters’ attack

A GROUP of German officials yesterday paid a solidarity visit to the Turkish Consulate General in Hannover after an attack on the diplomatic mission by the supporters of the PKK terrorist group.

Hannover Mayor Belit Onay condemned the attack and said he was informed by the police that additional security measures would be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

“When we watched the videos of the attack, we saw how violent it was. It is never acceptable for such a thing to happen in our city. We have absolutely no tolerance for such violence,” he said. Hannover’s police chief, Gwendolin von der Osten, accompanied Onay during the visit and informed Turkish officials about the additional security measures the authorities had put in place.

Turkish Ambassador to Berlin Ahmet Başar Şen, who traveled to Hannover on Thursday, thanked Onay and his delegation for their visit and said Türkiye expects more determined action against the terrorist group.

“We want to see that the perpetrators of this attack will be identified and brought to justice,” he said, adding that they would continue their close cooperation with the German authorities on the matter.

“The bigger problem is that the PKK terrorist group, which has been banned in Germany for more than 30 years, still continues fundraising campaigns in the country, carries out propaganda activities causing radicalization of young people,” Ambassador Şen told Anadolu Agency (AA) after the meeting.

“What we expect from German authorities is that the fight against the PKK terrorist group should cover all areas. They should take action against the structures of the terrorist group, its cover organizations here, which operate under the guise of civilian associations,” he said.

TUESDAY’S ATTACK

A group of PKK supporters attacked Türkiye’s Consulate General building on Tuesday evening following a pro-PKK demonstration in the city center without any intervention from the police.

The attack did not result in injuries, but the windows and main entrance door to the building were damaged.

The PKK, classified as an “ethno-nationalist” terrorist organization by the EU’s law enforcement agency, Europol, has been banned in Germany since 1993. However, it remains active with nearly 14,500 followers among the immigrant population, according to the German domestic intelligence agency, BfV. The group has massacred over 40,000 people in Türkiye during a fourdecade campaign of terror.