Dutch court jails PKK terrorist over attack on Turkish consulate

A court in the Netherlands handed down on Friday a 16-month jail term to a PKK terrorist who attacked Turkey’s Consulate General in Amsterdam in 2018 with Molotov cocktails.

Ercan Polater, who was initially caught in an anti-terror operation in the Netherlands but later granted refugee status, was arrested by Dutch police following the attack, which caused minor damage to the building and fortunately hurt no one.

Polater has been wanted by Turkey since 2012 under a red notice for terrorist organisation membership, said the sources, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media. 

In its more than 30-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU -- has been responsible for the death of some 40,000 people. 

On Sunday, Turkish Consul Tolga Orkun told Anadolu Agency that an individual threw three Molotov cocktails at the Turkish Consulate on Saturday night. 

“The Molotov cocktail wasn’t broken and didn’t flame up. If it had it would have caused serious damage,” Orkun said. 

There were no casualties from the incident.

The Dutch court said in a written statement that Polater was sentenced to 16 months in prison, six months of which will be imposed as a conditional sentence, on charges of deliberately attacking the Turkish Consulate General with three hand-made explosives.

The statement said that the court wanted his prison term to be less than the 20 months requested by the prosecutor in charge of the case, since no one was in the consulate or around the building during the attack.

The court said they gave the verdict by also taking into account Polater’s previous offences, namely when he was caught with two Molotov cocktails near the Turkish Consulate General in Germany in 2017.