Germany arrests leading members of DHKP-C terror group

Ozgul E., who is in Turkiye’s list of most wanted terrorists, arrested in southwestern city of Heidelberg

2022-05-19 13:08:45

BERLIN

German police have arrested three senior members of the far-left terror group DHKP-C, authorities said on Thursday.

The terror group's alleged Germany chief Ozgul E., and two other leading figures, were arrested following a lengthy investigation, the Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

Ozgul E., who is also on Turkiye's list of most-wanted terrorists, was arrested on Monday in the southwestern city of Heidelberg, according to the prosecutors.

She was suspected of organizing the terror group's propaganda, recruitment and funding activities across Germany, and is believed to have supplied fake passports to the members of the group.

Serkan K., who had coordinated the terror group's activities in northern Germany, was arrested in Hamburg on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said a third senior member of the group, Ihsan C., was arrested in the western city of Bochum on Wednesday.

He was suspected of coordinating DHKP-C's activities in southern Germany, organizing propaganda activities, and providing fake ID documents and logistical support for the terror group.

Germany banned the DHKP-C in 2000, but the group is still active in the country, and has around 650 followers among the immigrant population, according to the domestic intelligence agency BfV.

Besides Turkiye, the US and the European Union list the DHKP-C as a terror organization.

Ankara has repeatedly urged its NATO ally Germany to stop tolerating terror groups, which use the country as a platform for their activities against Turkiye.