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Community anger remains as PKK trial begins in London
The move against alleged PKK members that sparked outrage as a community centre in north London was raided last year has now come to trial, writes TONY BURKE, but in the meantime, the peace process abroad has changed the situation almost entirely
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ON SEPTEMBER 19 2025, six Kurdish activists appeared at London’s Old Bailey Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing following high-profile counter-terrorism raids in November 2024.
The dawn operations targeted their homes and the Kurdish Community Centre in north London, sparking widespread outrage within the Kurdish community and drawing sharp responses from local MPs, trade unions, and human rights advocates.
The raids, conducted just weeks after Ankara initiated peace talks with imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, have been widely condemned as heavy-handed and ill-timed.
The defendants, accused by the Crown Prosecution Service of membership of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), have been on bail under stringent restrictions for over nine months.
Since the raids, Turkey’s peace process has seen significant progress, including the PKK’s dissolution on May 7 this year and its initial disarmament on July 11 this year.
The British Foreign Office, alongside international counterparts, has welcomed these unilateral steps by Kurdish groups to end the 40-year Kurdish-Turkish conflict.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, whose constituency includes the Kurdish Community Centre, has previously attended Kurdish-led demonstrations and events, advocating against human rights abuses faced by the community.
Notably, two defendants, Agit Karatas and Turkan Ozcan, were scheduled to attend a Foreign Office event commemorating Yazidi women killed by Isis, hosted by Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer, on the morning of the raids. Instead, they and their co-defendants were labelled “terrorists.”
Counter-terrorism legislation has long been criticised for disproportionately targeting marginalised groups, with Kurds often bearing the brunt.
The Kurdish community in Britain has worked tirelessly with parliamentary groups, trade unions, and civil society to highlight challenges faced by Kurds in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, rooted in 20th-century British-sanctioned treaties.
In Britain, their national campaign, Freedom for Ocalan, has garnered support from over 15 trade unions, including Unite and the GMB and is endorsed by the TUC.
Karatas, the youngest defendant at 23 and a Master’s student at the London School of Economics, has been a prominent advocate, engaging with all-party parliamentary groups and national trade unions to foster solidarity between the labour movement and the Kurdish struggle.
In a statement, Karatas expressed his dismay: “It strikes me as counter-productive for the British government to maintain such intense pressure on its Kurdish community while a delicate peace process matures in Turkey between Abdullah Ocalan and state authorities.
“Born and raised in this country, I believed diplomacy and dialogue would always be available to secure basic human rights and dignity for Kurds.
“Instead, my co-defendants and I are gripped by anxiety, questioning where our hard-earned relationships with the government and state went wrong, and how these proceedings will affect the fragile peace efforts between Ankara and the Kurds.”
The next hearing involving preparations for trial will be on November 7 at London’s Old Bailey.
Tony Burke is a member of the Freedom for Ocalan Campaign — freedomforocalan.org.
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