22 people detained in Ghent after further unrest between Turkish and Kurdish groups
In Ghent, 22 people were detained on Wednesday night after a Kurdish business in the city was vandalised. Half of those held are minors and police found a number of weapons. The incident follows clashes in recent days between people from the Turkish and Kurdish communities.
On Monday, Turkish youths held a parade through the city to denounce the presence of the Kurdish movement PKK, whose flags were seen following a pre-Islamic spring festival last weekend. Riots broke out in Limburg in response, and later in Brussels.
The unrest spread to Ghent on Tuesday night, when a Kurdish café and bakery were attacked. There was material damage but no one was injured. In video of the incidents, youths make the gesture of the Grey Wolves, an ultra-nationalist Turkish movement.
A second Kurdish business in Ghent’s Rabot neighbourhood was attacked on Wednesday night. It had been mentioned on social media as a target. Police have been following tensions between the two groups closely for several days, deploying extra troops and patrols.
On Wednesday, they intercepted 22 people and found weapons including Molotov cocktails and knives. Half of the arrested youths are under 18. Police say messages have been circulating on social media to further polarise the issue and have called for calm between the two groups.
The prosecutor’s office has asked Ghent police to investigate the case as a priority.
As of 21.00 on Thursday, there is a ban on gatherings of more than nine people at 10 locations in the city known to be hotspots for anti-social behaviour. Police will monitor the ban and carry out systematic identity checks.
"The police presence is and will remain strong on the ground. We will not tolerate youngsters taking matters into their own hands and causing vandalism. Judicial investigations will be launched for all offences," said Ghent mayor Mathias De Clercq, of Flemish liberal party Open VLD.
The PKK is considered a terrorist movement by the EU. The Grey Wolves are seen as a militant ultra-nationalist movement linked to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party. There have been tensions in Turkey and abroad for years between supporters of the two groups.