French police arrest eight suspects linked to PKK financing investigation

French police arrested eight men on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the finances of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), banned as a terror organization by Turkey and its Western allies, anti-terrorism prosecutors said.

The arrests took place in the Paris region and in southern France, the PNAT anti-terror unit said.

The PKK has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

French prosecutors suspect the eight of preparing and financing terrorist acts, and of conspiring to extort, or attempt to extort, funds to finance a terrorist organization between 2020 and 2024, the PNAT said.

Investigators believe the eight to be connected to a campaign to collect funds from Kurdish business people and other Kurds in France, a source close to the case added.

Police can hold the suspects for up to 96 hours for questioning, the source said.

Another source said the funds were destined for use in Belgium, where police on Monday raided Kurdish-run media as part of a probe undertaken at the request of a French anti-terror judge, the PNAT said.

The PKK has waged a decades-long insurgency for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority of Turkey in the southeast of the country, in a standoff with the Ankara government that remains unresolved to this day.