The arrest of 38 Kurds, suspected of being members or supporters of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) (Group Profile), the Kurdish insurgent group seeking independence from Turkey (Country Profile) highlights several important developments. In the first instance, these arrests suggest that Europe may no longer be the safe haven for the PKK that it once was, a development that would certainly satisfy a long-standing demand of the Turkish government for European countries to clamp down on this group?s activities. Until relatively recently, the PKK was able to recruit, train, hide, raise funds, and broadcast its propaganda from most countries like the Netherlands/Holland , Germany , and Denmark with relative impunity. However, in the post 9/11 (Terrorist Incident) world, it was almost inevitable that even the most liberal European countries would eventually clamp down on the PKK, which like all other groups that advocate the use of political violence is now designated as a terrorist entity.

The catalyst for the clampdown on the PKK in Holland may not, however, have been a hardening of attitudes toward this particular group or the separatist cause it purports to represent. Instead, this group has probably been caught up in a nationwide clampdown on all terrorist activity, prompted by an upsurge in Islamic-inspired terrorism that culminated last week in the assassination of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh (Terrorist Incident). An alleged Islamic extremist is accused of having murdered Van Gogh, a well-known critic of the perceived Islamic oppression of women (see related articles in the WAR Report). This incident and several other related incidents has significantly hardened attitudes in Holland toward any form of terrorist activity and has prompted the normally liberal Dutch government to propose the introduction of draconian anti-terrorism legislation. These new powers, which look likely to been given the ascent of parliament and the backing of the majority of the Dutch public, will give the authorities unprecedented powers to surveil, arrest, and detain terrorism suspects.