Tension between Turkish and Kurdish communities in Belgium after riots

At least six people were injured yesterday during riots between Syrian Kurds and the Turkish community in two Belgian-Limburg towns. There is one seriously injured person, VRT writes. There were also confrontations today.

Kurds with a Syrian background celebrated the Persian festival of Nowruz last night in the city of Leuven. Later that evening they drove to Houthalen-Helchteren and Heusden-Zolder. Images show a convoy with PKK flags driving through the streets. This was interpreted as a provocation by part of the Turkish community. There was a confrontation in Heusden-Zolder.

Call on social media

After that, things got out of hand: people on social media called for people to come to a street where a group of Kurds were staying. Fighting broke out, car windows were broken and flags were burned. A police chief told VRT that it took hours before order was restored.

According to some witnesses, PKK flags triggered the incident. The Kurdish community has a different interpretation and points to the Gray Wolves, an ultra-nationalist organization that is aligned with the Turkish government. Gray Wolves are said to have attacked a Kurdish family returning from the party. Videos of the incident repeatedly show a hand gesture that the Gray Wolves also use.

Brussels demonstration

Following the riots, 200 pro-Kurdish demonstrators held a demonstration in Brussels this afternoon, where there was another confrontation. The police have cleared the square.

According to the demonstrators, European governments and organizations have too passive an attitude towards Turkish President Erdogan. According to them, last night was not about riots, but about a premeditated attack that the Turkish president was behind.

An organizer of the event told VRT that Erdogan “makes a sport of intimidating Kurds abroad”. “Families who went home peacefully after the spring festival were attacked by Turks because they had Kurdish flags in the car,” the organizer said. “It is almost certain that the attack was planned. It is impossible to mobilize a hundred men in ten minutes.”

Armed struggle

The Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK has been waging an armed struggle against the Turkish state for more than 40 years, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. The party is banned in Turkey. The United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

The conflict has often led to tensions in Belgium. For example, riots broke out in Antwerp in 2011 and 2017 between supporters of the Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and people from the Turkish community.