People take part in a Kurdish community march in central London in response to the arrest of seven people said to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK. The group is proscribed by the government, and expressing support for it is a criminal offence, Scotland Yard said, December 1, 2024
SOCIALIST councillors in Haringey have expressed outrage at the Metropolitan Police’s treatment of the borough’s Kurdish community.
Six members of the Kurdish community in the north London borough were charged with membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Tuesday, following raids on their homes and community centre on November 27. The organisation is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and Britain.
Independent Socialist Group on Haringey Council leader Councillor Lotte Collett said that the raids seemed “totally disproportionate when measured against the charges that have been laid.”
She said: “We are minded to believe that this raid was a politically motivated assault on a minority ethnic community that have made their home in our borough carried out at the behest of the Turkish government and was probably sanctioned here at cabinet level.
“[Tottenham MP] David Lammy has shown himself to be an absolutely hopeless Foreign Secretary.
“He is complicit in the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
“He is equally hopeless in standing up for the rights of residents, the Kurdish community, in his own parliamentary constituency.”
The group said it supports the Kurds in seeking an apology from the force “for the mistreatment of the community.”
