The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) claims in it’s annual report that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is now recruiting Kurds in Europe for the armed struggle in Syria, not in Turkey.
As the PKK attempts to get delisted as a terrorist organisation in Europe, AIVD says that it continues to carry out activities that support the armed struggle of the PKK against the Turkish state.
“Recruitment by the PKK for the armed struggle continues, but mainly for the military branch of the Syrian ally of the PKK, the PYD [Democratic Union Party], that resists the regime in Damascus and IS [Islamic State],” AIVD said.
AIVD has reported the ‘terrorist’ activities of the PKK and the leftwing group, the DHKP-C, to the Dutch government. Over the last two years AIVD has given less priority to the PKK, and has shifted its focus to Islamic State.
The Dutch Intelligence service says the battle between the IS and the Kurds in Kobani has had a negative effect on the Turkish-Kurdish peace process.
Moreover, there has been greater tension between secular and Islamic Kurds in Turkey, referring to the disputes between the PKK and the Sunni militant Hizbullah group. These tensions have had a negative effect on the relationship between Kurds and Turks in Europe, AIVD says.
