At 6.30am on 6 April, the Anatolian Peoples’ Cultural Centre in north London and the homes of two activists from the centre were raided by a Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism squad. The activists were arrested and released later the same day on police bail, under which they have to present themselves three times a week at a police station; the Cultural Centre remains closed.
The Anatolian Peoples’ Cultural Centre has been in operation for 16 years. Its membership is drawn mainly from refugees from the political struggles in Kurdistan and Turkey, many of whom continue to actively follow politics in the country they have fled and to participate in legal anti-racist, anti-imperialist, socialist political activity in London. However, the Cultural Centre itself is not engaged in political activity; it has charitable status and funding from the local council, and organises community activities, such as educational courses, music and theatre performances, outings and excursions, as well as being involved in programmes to educate young people about drugs and deter them from gang participation.
It seems unlikely to be a coincidence that this attack took place just weeks after Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davatoglu met with David Cameron in the course of talks around Turkey-EU refugee and trade agreements. The raids took place on the basis of allegations that the Cultural Centre is being used to fundraise for the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (Devrimci Halk Kurtulus Partisi-Cephesi – DHKP-C), which is an illegal organisation in Turkey and banned in Britain under the Terrorism Act 2000. The order to close the Cultural Centre was issued under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 – apparently the first time such an order has been used in this way to close premises which are alleged to have links to a banned organisation.
The Anatolian People’s Cultural Centre refused to stop its activities and set up a temporary centre in a tent opposite the locked building. The police attacked again, raiding the tent on 31 May and making seven arrests. Again, all were released on police bail.
No-one has been charged with any criminal offence and no evidence of links between the Cultural Centre and any banned organisation or illegal publication has been produced. This is sheer harassment, designed to intimidate community activists. It is an attack, not just on the rights of the Kurdish and Turkish community but on all of us, and we must stand together to oppose it!
Defend democratic rights and freedom to organise!
An injury to one is an injury to all!
Sign the petition at www.change.org/p/rt-hon-david-cameron-mp-stop-police-closure-of-anatolian-people-s-culture-centre
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 252 August/September 2016
