Charges raised against Kurdish nationals in Hungary for supporting terrorist group

The Csongrád County prosecutor’s office has raised charges against a Kurdish man and woman for supporting a terrorist group, the head of the office said on Tuesday.

The suspects are believed to have supported militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, which is classified as a terrorist organisation, between 2010 and 2015, Zsolt Kopasz told MTI.

According to the indictment, the man, who is a Turkish citizen but of Kurdish nationality, joined the group in 2009, while the woman of Iranian citizenship joined in 2010.

They are both believed to have received military training and served under the PKK in Iraq. Rather than serving on the battlefield, their job was to transport clothes and food to the units returning from and fighting in Turkey.

In 2014, the suspects were transferred to Syria, where they were stationed at a base near the town of Kobani. There they were tasked with carrying out logistics operations under the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, the PKK’s local affiliate.

The suspects — who became romantically involved during their service in Syria — later decided to flee to Iraq. In 2016, shortly after marrying, they set off for Europe with the help of people smugglers.

On Dec. 6, 2017, they submitted asylum applications at the transit zone in Hungary’s southern border town of Tompa, which were rejected by the authorities.

The suspects will be tried at the Szeged Court of Justice in southern Hungary.

Source: MTI