Members of London’s Kurdish community have initiated a protest encampment and hunger strike, aimed at defending Haringey’s Kurdish Community Centre (KCC) against police repression.
Raid on community centre and several homes
On 27 November, police mounted a violent raid of the KCC. Officers smashed their way in with sledgehammers, and blocked nearby streets. Several homes were also raided and the families of those arrested, some of them children, were beaten by officers. Seven people have now been arrested.
A statement from the community said: “Between 2 and 3am on the morning of Wednesday, November 27, Met Police raided the homes of… Kurdish activists, arresting them, and beating their families, including children. Their families were then expelled from their homes and will not be allowed to return for 14 days.”
Those detained include Türkan Budak and Agit Karataş. Budak is co-chair of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Assembly in Britain (KPDA), while Karatas is the KPDA’s foreign relations representative. Writer and politician Ali Poyraz was also arrested. Police also detained Ercan Akbal, as well as youth activists Doğan K. and Mazlum S., and women’s organiser Berfin K.
‘We are not terrorists’
According to KCC member Hakan Nemir, when the police broke into the KCC, they “started to attack us without any justification. We were injured in the process. This was torture. We are not terrorists. The terrorists are those who torture us in this way and oppress the Kurdish people who have fled fascism and taken refuge here.”
The raid came exactly one year on from another controversial police operation aimed at the KCC. The Kurdish community has filed a police complaint over last year’s raid.
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the arrests were made under the UK’s terrorism legislation, and relate to allegations relating to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is a proscribed group in the UK. However, Ali Has, lawyer for the defendants, has stated that no concrete evidence has been presented so far.
New police powers
Has, of Morgan Has Solicitors, stated that British police were using new terrorism powers against those arrested. He said: “The police are trying to put the Kurdish Community Center in a difficult position, claiming that it is the headquarters of the PKK in England. And the reason for the arrest is Article 41 [of the] National Security Act [which] was passed in England in 2023. While that law was being passed, an addition was also made to the Terrorism Act. According to this article, the police are granted extensive powers and the right to question anyone without concrete evidence that they have committed any crime under the Terrorism Act. Currently, [the] Kurdish activists have been detained based on this article.”
Has said that the defendants have all been interviewed by the police in relation to membership of the PKK.
Solidarity demonstrators targeted by police
Kurdish People’s Democratic Assembly in Britain (KPDA) co-chair Sait Suruç was quick to call on comrades to defend the KCC, and a hundreds-strong crowd soon gathered outside the building. Kurdish community members were joined by members of the Kurdistan Solidarity Network, the Alevi Federation of Britain, Tohum Cultural Centre and Turkish leftist groups DAY-MER and Gik-Der.
Police snatch-squads were soon sent in, as the demonstrators chanted ‘Berxwedane jiyane’ (‘resistance is life’), sang revolutionary songs and danced the halay (a traditional Kurdish collective dance). Several protesters were arrested, and one has been remanded overnight.
During the protest, local residents wrote the words “Free Kurdistan” across the windows of several houses overlooking the street. Met police deployed dogs against the protesters, as helicopters circled overhead.
The KCC’s statement declared that the police actions represent a “shocking escalation” in the repression of the UK’s Kurdish community. They wrote: “The KCC has served the local community for several decades, providing a haven for Kurds escaping cultural and political persecution. It also continues to provide a range of indispensable support services – language, music and sports classes as well as a supplementary school – and an inclusive cultural space for the diverse communities of North London. This aggressive and accelerated dismantling of democratic freedoms, and attempt to destroy a beloved community space, has severe implications for the rights of all British citizens, particularly migrant and racialised communities.”
Part of an international wave of repression
The raids in London coincided with a wave of repression across Europe and Turkey, showing the likely involvement of the Turkish state in pressuring British and German authorities to make the arrests. Over 200 people have been detained this week in Turkey, and several arrests were made in dawn raids in Germany last week.
The Met Police reportedly even sent a Turkish speaking officer to police the protest outside the KCC yesterday.
Labour MP for Enfield, Feryal Clarke, expressed concern over the raid via her account on social media platform X.
‘We must resist political attacks like this one’
The UK based Kurdistan Solidarity Network (KSN) called on its supporters to defend the KCC. “The Rojava Revolution and the Kurdistan Freedom Movement represent one of the biggest and most organised threats to the dominant system. Because of this, states around the world have criminalised the Kurdish community and political organising in solidarity with Kurdistan, declaring it to be “terrorist”. In order to defend the Rojava Revolution, Kurdish communities, and our chance at building a different kind of world, we must resist political attacks like this one,” they said.
Mila Vitsikounakis of KSN pointed out that the police operation in London “took place only three weeks after the fascist Turkish foreign minister visited the UK”.
A protest march has been called in support of the London arrestees, starting at 5pm from Turnpike Lane Station. The KCC are holding a press conference at 2pm today.
