, according to the pro-Kurdish ANF news agency.){kind=link}
A senior Kurdish politician and Turkish national has been arrested in Germany on allegations of membership in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to the pro-Kurdish ANF news agency.
Yüksel Koç, 61, was taken into custody on Tuesday in the northern city of Bremen, following a police operation carried out under an arrest warrant issued by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice on April 4.
Koç is being investigated under Section 129b of the German Criminal Code, which permits the prosecution of individuals alleged to be part of foreign terrorist organizations. The provision is commonly used in Germany to pursue legal cases involving groups banned abroad.
German federal prosecutors allege Koç held a leadership position within the PKK’s European network between June 2016 and July 2023. German authorities accuse him of managing propaganda operations and acting as a key liaison between senior PKK leaders and groups across Europe.
Koç is a long-standing figure in the Kurdish diaspora and served as co-chair of the European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress (KCDK-E) from 2016 to 2023. The organization, headquartered in Germany, describes itself as a legal civil society platform promoting Kurdish democratic rights. However, German officials have claimed it has institutional links to the PKK, which has been banned in Germany since 1993 due to its involvement in violent activity.
The PKK, designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, has led an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984. The conflict has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths. On May 12 the group announced it was disbanding following renewed peace overtures from its imprisoned founder, Abdullah Öcalan, who in February had called for an end to the armed conflict.
Koç’s arrest comes shortly after the PKK’s announcement.
Meanwhile, Kurdish civil society groups have sharply criticized Koç’s arrest. The Confederation of Kurdish Communities in Germany (KON-MED) condemned the detention on Tuesday, claiming it followed a police raid on Koç’s residence.
KON-MED argued the arrest reflects a wider pattern of criminalizing Kurdish activism in Europe, particularly at a time when parts of the Kurdish political movement appear to be shifting toward nonviolent strategies. The group warned that targeting prominent diaspora figures risks further straining trust between Germany’s Kurdish community and state institutions.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has not yet announced a date for Koç’s court appearance.