Turkish Kurds Detained in Greece over Extremism
Greece has placed in pre-trial detention four Turkish Kurds charged with belonging to a far-left extremist organization in Turkey, a judicial official said on Friday.
The four men, aged 24 to 53, are believed to belong to the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), a far-left armed group that has carried out attacks in Turkey, the source said.
They were arrested this week after police found a Kalashnikov assault rifle, two submachine guns, three handguns, two grenades and over six kilograms (13 pounds) of gelatin dynamite at their Athens apartment.
The men had rented the apartment under false Syrian identities, the police said.
One of the suspects, identified as Huseyin Fenzi Tekin, is wanted by Turkey as a suspected DHKP-C member, they said.
All four have been charged with participation in an extremist organization, possession of explosives and illegal firearms and declaration of false identity.
Last March, the DHKP-C claimed rocket and grenade attacks on the justice ministry and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The group also claimed a suicide bomb attack on the U.S. embassy in Ankara that killed a Turkish security agent on February 1.
The latest case was apparently linked to the arrest of four men -- two Greeks and two Turks of Kurdish origin -- in July for transferring weapons and explosives to Turkey.
Greece's coastguard arrested the men off the Aegean island of Chios.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/118710 |