Alleged PKK backer extradited to Germany on terror charges

BERLIN – German authorities say a Turkish man has been extradited from France on charges of supporting a banned Kurdish organization.

Federal prosecutors said Tuesday that Ozkan T., a 31-year-old whose last name wasn’t given in line with privacy laws, was extradited Monday. He was arrested in July in France on a European warrant issued by Germany accusing him of supporting a terrorist organization.

He’s accused of working with four others, all arrested in Germany in June, to kidnap a former member of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to convince him to work for it again. They’re alleged to have abused the man before releasing him.

The PKK, which wants greater autonomy for Kurds living in Turkey, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.