The European Union has recognized the Kurdistan Workers’ Party as a terrorist group. Individuals allegedly associated with this group have recently been arrested.

A counter-terrorism operation in the UK has led to the arrest of six individuals over suspected links to the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The operation was part of a broader investigation into the group’s suspected activities.

The individuals arrested, including a 59-year-old woman, a 27-year-old man, a 31-year-old woman, a 62-year-old man, a 56-year-old man and a 23-year-old man, were apprehended at different locations across London in the early hours of Wednesday.

According to Helen Flanagan of the Metropolitan Police, these arrests were specifically targeted at those suspected of involvement in terrorist activities connected to the PKK.

Metropolitan police are carrying out searches at eight different locations across London, including the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey, North London. As a result of the ongoing investigation, the centre will remain closed for the next two weeks.

The PKK, which has been engaged in a decades-long struggle for self-rule for Turkey’s Kurdish minority, is known for its guerrilla tactics that have often brought it into direct conflict with the Turkish military. The PKK is officially listed as a terrorist organization in both the UK and the EU.

Flanagan emphasized that the investigation’s main aim is to protect all communities, with a particular emphasis on the Turkish and Kurdish communities.

In Turkey, the pro-Kurdish movement’s members and politicians have often been targeted due to suspected links with the PKK. In fact, protests broke out in Istanbul in October following the detention of mayor Ahmet Ozer, who was suspected of having ties to the militant group.