Turkey’s National Security Council has called on European governments to “prevent terrorist groups’ attacks” and said failing to prevent the attacks and tolerating terrorist groups “will eventually pose a threat to public order” in their own countries.
The written statement released after a meeting of the Council on Thursday reads:
“The attacks targeting our nationals and diplomatic missions in Europe, carried out by the PKK-PYD [Kurdistan Workers’ Party and Syria-based Democratic Union Party], are being closely monitored. The Council once again reminds the states who hold responsibility for preventing these attacks and punishing the perpetrators that tolerating terrorist groups will eventually pose a threat to their public order and make them the target of these groups.”
The recent meeting of the National Security Council, chaired by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was held four days after the local elections in which Erdoğan’s long-ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) suffered a dramatic defeat, coming out second after the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP). The AKP suffered a similar defeat against the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in Kurdish-majority provinces.
The alleged “terrorist attacks” mentioned in the National Security Council’s statement refers to incidents triggered by an attack against Kurds celebrating Newroz in Belgium on 25 March. The attack was carried out by supporters of the Turkish far-right Grey Wolves organisation. During the attack, the aggressors chanted takbir and tried to force their way into a house where many Kurds sought refuge.
The Grey Wolves, a paramilitary organisation affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Turkey, was described by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in 2019 as “the largest right-wing extremist organisation in Germany”. The MHP is an ally of Erdoğan’s AKP.