Six people in London charged with being members of banned Kurdish group PKK | UK News

Six people have been charged with being members of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party after an investigation by counter-terrorism police in London.

The two women and four men were arrested and detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Wednesday 27 November.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK, has been a proscribed organisation since 2001 for its advocation of Kurdish self-rule through both political and armed struggle.

The Metropolitan Police said this morning that Turkan Ozcan, 59, from Edmonton in north London, and Berfin Kerban, 31, from Haggerston in east London, both women, were charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation on Monday.

Mazlum Sayak, 27, from South Woodford in east London, Ali Boyraz, 62, from Tottenham in north London, Ercan Akbal, 56, from Leyton in east London, and Agit Karatas, 23, from Hackney in east London, were charged with the same offence.

The six people who have been charged will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.

A 31-year-old man who was arrested as part of the investigation has been released without charge, the force said.

The Metropolitan Police said there was not believed to be any imminent threat to the public after the arrests.

The PKK group and its aliases are said by the UK government to be “primarily a separatist movement that seeks an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey”.

Acting Commander Helen Flanagan, from the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said after the charges: “We fully recognise the concern and impact this investigation has had upon the local community and we continue to work closely with local policing colleagues to keep them updated.

“The charges brought about in this case are very serious and come about following an extensive investigation by our detectives.

“It is important that communities right across London know that where we suspect any kind of potential terrorist activity, then we will look to investigate and take action to disrupt that in order to keep everybody safe.”