The Swiss Federal Government has admitted that the PKK terrorist group actively operates within Switzerland, organizing clandestine training camps, recruiting militants, and conducting fundraising and propaganda activities.
In response to a parliamentary question submitted by Free Democratic Party (FDP) lawmaker Jacqueline Quattro in December 2024, the Swiss government confirmed the presence and activities of the PKK in the country. Quattro had raised concerns about the PKK’s operations in Switzerland and its potential threat to national security.
According to an official statement, the PKK holds several covert camps annually in Switzerland, primarily focusing on ideological indoctrination aimed at youth recruitment. While the government noted that no armed training occurs in these camps, it stated that some participants are selected to join the PKK’s so-called leadership or sent to engage in activities against the Turkish military.
The Swiss Federal Intelligence Service is actively monitoring any potential threats and has implemented measures to counter the PKK’s activities both within Switzerland and internationally. However, the government admitted that it could not provide an exact number of these secret camps due to their covert nature and limited intelligence.
The statement also confirmed that the PKK conducts fundraising and propaganda efforts in Switzerland. The Swiss government emphasized that it closely monitors PKK activities and will impose entry bans and take legal action against any acts that threaten national or international security or incite violence.
In addition, the Swiss government addressed the PKK’s claims of representing the so-called autonomous regions in northeastern Syria, acknowledging that the PKK operates under the name of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the YPG in Syria, recognizing them as part of the same structure.
Swiss Intelligence Warns of PKK’s Clandestine Operations
In its “Switzerland’s Security 2024” report published in November, the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service raised concerns over the PKK’s secretive operations within the country and abroad. The report highlighted that the PKK engages in covert fundraising, propaganda, and training activities, with Turkish missions, mosques, and community centers listed as potential targets.
The report also revealed that the PKK uses its propaganda to recruit young individuals, some of whom are prepared for future attacks against the Turkish military. It further noted that PKK-affiliated cultural associations attempt to attract newly arrived refugees, seeking to use them for the organization’s objectives.
The intelligence report warned that the PKK sometimes collaborates with violent far-left extremist groups and that its covert operations are expected to continue in the future.
Switzerland is among the European countries harboring supporters of the PKK, although it is recognized as a terrorist group by Türkiye, the European Union and the United States.
In 2017, supporters of the terrorist group unfurled a banner calling for the murder of Erdoğan outside the parliamentary building in Bern. A Swiss court released four defendants who were behind the incident last year. Also last year, a group of PKK supporters tried to attack a Turkish festival in Basel, and six people were injured when the group disrupted a children’s event, throwing iron barriers at the venue at participants.
The terrorist group wields influence in most European countries under the guise of what they call the PKK’s fight for “Kurdish self-rule.” It tries to legitimize a campaign of violence that has claimed thousands of lives across Türkiye since the 1980s under “associations” in Europe that seek to draw sympathy to their cause.
Europol, the European Union’s main law enforcement agency, disclosed the PKK’s activities in a terrorism report. The report revealed that members of some European far-left groups and anarchists have been training and fighting with PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, southeastern Türkiye and more recently in northeastern Syria, where most of the terrorist group’s attacks have taken place.
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