Bünyamin Tekin
French police raided a pro-Kurdish association and detained eight people, while Belgian police raided Kurdish media outlets, confiscating press materials at the request of French police, according to Belgian media outlet De Standaard and Agence France-Presse.
Early Tuesday morning the Belgian federal police carried out a large-scale raid on the offices of Stêrk TV and Medya Haber TV, two television stations with Kurdish content broadcasting from Brussels. The operation began at around 1:30 a.m. European time.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, cited by De Standaard, the searches were carried out at the request of the French anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office PNAT, which is conducting an investigation into the financing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization in France and most of the EU. In Belgium, it is not listed as such.
The raid in Belgium, which coincided with Kurdish Journalism Day, marking the 126th anniversary of the first issue of the Kurdistan newspaper and the establishment of the Kurdistan Union of Journalists, represents a moment of repression of the Kurdish media, which have always been known for their critical coverage of events in Turkey and the Kurdish regions, the outlets said in a press release shared with Turkish Minute.
According to the broadcasters, the police raid and the search of the premises were carried out without prior notice, and the legal representatives were only informed afterwards.
During the raid, the broadcasting equipment and press materials were damaged, computers were confiscated and some broadcasting cables were cut, preventing the stations from operating, according to the media.
On the same day French police raided the Democratic Kurdish Community Center of Drancy, near Paris, and arrested eight people in circumstances that have raised concerns among human rights advocates.
The Kurdish media in Brussels has long been under considerable pressure for its critical coverage of Turkey’s policies towards the Kurds. Despite previous legal challenges and operations against their outlets, Kurdish channels such as Stêrk TV and Medya Haber TV have continued to report on issues of importance to the Kurdish community, often covering human rights violations and political repression.
“We emphasize that this attack infringes on the freedom of the Kurdish media and the Kurdish people’s right to information,” the outlets said in a press release shared with Turkish Minute.
The legal representatives of the raided media outlets have announced that they will take action against what they consider to be unlawful interference in their activities. They are calling on the Belgian government to clarify its position and its relations with Turkey and are urging respect for press freedom and the protection of journalistic activities in the European Union.
“We will conclude with this simple message – ‘We are here.’ We see ourselves as responsible for informing the Kurdish people and keeping our language and culture alive. In the face of all kinds of oppression, including deadly attacks against our colleagues, our pens will continue to write and our cameras will continue to capture the truth,” the media said.
🧵#BREAKING: Belgian police raided Kurdish television stations in Brussels last night.
Here's what we know so far about the raids – which occurred in tandem with arrests of Kurdish reporters in Turkey, and were timed to coincide with #KurdishJournalismDay: pic.twitter.com/XkbybYvLAp
— MedyaNews (@medyanews_) April 23, 2024
In 2010 hundreds of police officers stormed the premises of Roj TV in Belgium. This led to a decade-long court case, at the end of which the Belgian Supreme Court ruled that the PKK is not recognized as a terrorist organization in Belgium, meaning that actions to promote the organization or membership in the group are legal under Belgian law.
However, the actions and discourse of the Belgian government and prosecutors contradict the final judgment of the top court and are consistent with the designation of the PKK as a terrorist organization by Ankara and the EU.
The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, making up around 18 percent of the population. The Kurds also have a sizable presence in Iran, Iraq and Syria.
They are one of the largest ethnic groups without a state and have a long history of suffering discrimination and violence in Turkey and other countries.
It is common for Kurds in Turkey who are politically active in the Kurdish struggle for recognition to be charged with terrorism for alleged links to the PKK.
Rights groups and international bodies regularly criticize Turkey for using its broad and vague anti-terror laws to crack down on dissent.
However, Kurds are also face increasing pressure in European countries.
European countries have recently deported numerous Kurdish activists to Turkey for alleged membership in the PKK.