Some 5,000 Kurds from across Europe have staged a demonstration in Brussels calling on the authorities to put an end to police abuse against representatives of the Kurdish diaspora in Belgium, local media has reported.
On March 4, Belgian police carried out large-scale raids in Kurdish-inhabited districts in the capital, Brussels, as well as in the cities of Antwerp, Charleroi, Namur, and Verviers. As a result, eight people were arrested on suspicion of being involved in terrorism-related activities.
Two leaders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Zubeyir Aydar and Remzi Kartal, were among those arrested. The CNNturk TV channel said in late March they had been released, as well as four other detainees.
Saturday's demonstration took place in Brussels following calls by the PKK, which is labeled by the UN and U.S. a terrorist organization.
The PKK has been struggling since 1984 to create an independent Kurdish state in Turkey. The conflict between Kurds and Turkish authorities has taken more than 40,000 lives.
Local media said Turkey had requested Belgium to extradite Aydar and Kartal.
BRUSSELS, April 4 (RIA Novosti)
