Supporters are gathering outside the Kurdish Community Center in Haringey, London, to protest the criminalisation of Kurdish politicians and demand the withdrawal of police presence. 

The centre was raided this morning, while six individuals were arrested in their homes for what police allege are connections to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organisation. Today is the 46th anniversary of the founding of the organisation. “It is not a coincidence that the state chose today to attempt a political strike”, said Kurdish community activists in Edinburgh, who have also called for local solidarity.

The raid on the community centre involved hundreds of police. The entrances and exits of the street where the building is located were closed. The building was invaded a year ago on the same anniversary.

Mezopotamya named five of the arrestees as Türkan Budak, co-chair of the Kurdish People’s Democratic Assembly in Britain (KHM), his brother Hayri Budak, reported wounded during the raid, foreign relations representative Agit Karataş, assembly worker Ercan Akbal, and Kurdish writer and former political prisoner Ali Poyraz. 

In late October, it was reported that during a rare visit by his nephew, imprisoned PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan stated that he has the “theoretical and practical authority” to transition the process of Kurdish independence “from conflict and violence to legal and political grounds”.