German police have arrested three senior members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) terrorist group who are being sought by Turkey, Deutsche Welle Turkish service reported.
The alleged DHKP/C members were identified as Özgül E, the group’s most senior member in Germany, as well as regional leaders İhsan C. and Serkan K. While Özgül E. and İhsan C., who were arrested in Heidelberg on May 16 and in Hamburg on May 17, respectively, are Turkish citizens, Serkan K., who was arrested in Bochum on May 18, is a German citizen, according to a statement from the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday.
The suspects will be tried on charges of membership in a foreign terrorist organization.
The DHKP/C is recognized as a terrorist organization in Germany, and its activities have been banned since 1998; however, the group is believed to carry on its activities in the country under other names.
The group is also listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU.
The DHKP-C is responsible for several terrorist attacks in Turkey, including the murder of a public prosecutor in İstanbul in 2015, an attack on the US Embassy in Ankara in 2013 that killed a Turkish security guard as well as the murder of Turkish businessman Özdemir Sabancı in İstanbul in 1996.
Turkey has long accused Germany and other European countries of serving as a safe haven for members of terrorist organizations targeting it.